By Roland Lechner
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 24, 1998

UA track squad performs well at first outdoor scoring meet of the season

A pair of throwers provided the highlights for the Arizona men and women's track teams last weekend at the Willie William's Classic in Tucson.

After coming off disappointing results in the shot put at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Indianapolis two weeks ago, UA seniors Chima Ugwu and Doug Reynolds placed first and second in both the discus and the shot put.

Ugwu won the shot put with an impressive throw of 62 feet, 3-inches, garnering an automatic berth for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., in June.

Reynolds also earned an automatic bid in the discus competition. It was just the second time the discus was part of a meet this season and his throw of 203-9 will be tough to beat.

The Classic was the first outdoor scoring meet of the season, featuring teams from Colorado, Nebraska, Boise State, Utah State, South Dakota and even some athletes from Japan's University of Tokyo.

Other standout athletes for Arizona included freshman Patrick Nduwimana, who faced two busy days at the track, competing in not only his original event - the 800-meters - but also in the 1500, 400 and 4x400 relay.

The reasoning behind all the extra running was that the coaches wanted to get him used to the pressure of tight schedules at big meets. Nduwimana performed well in all of his events, with a Pacific 10 Conference qualifying mark in the 800, his best finish on the day.

For the first time this season, the javelin throwers faced tournament action and Arizona athletes fared well, sweeping the top three spots in the event.

Finland native Esko Mikkola's throw of 235 feet was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.

On the women's side sophomore TaKisha Morgan won the triple jump with a leap of 40-1, which also qualified her for the Pac-10 Championships. Junior Nicole Thomas also had a surprising result in the 400 hurdles with a time of 59.70, which also secured her a spot at the Pac-10s.

The Wildcats get to stay home for another weekend, hosting the Jim Click Wildcat Multi-Invitational Thursday and Friday, followed by the Jim Click Wildcat Shootout Saturday .