June 2, 2001

EUGENE, Ore. -- Entering Friday's competition, favored to win the first-ever women's 3,000-meter steeplechase competition in NCAA history, senior Elizabeth Jackson lived up to the billing by winning her first national championship in an American record 9:49.73.

Teamates Courtney Meldrum and Nan Evans finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to pick up a total 17 team points in the event.

Jackson's performance ranks as the third fastest ever.

Jackson was 11th after the first 650 meters and began to make her move heading into the back stretch, moving up to seventh. After the second lap, Jackson was in third but again made a move in the backstretch, taking over the lead from Arkansas' Lilli Kleinmann. Jackson would not relinquish the lead as Arizona State's Kelly MacDonald and Weber State's Rebecca Bennion would each take a shot at the world's second-ranked steeplechaser. With one lap to go, Jackson extended her 10-meter lead to more than 20 meters, sprinting down the back stretch to clip nearly six seconds off the old American record.

Meldrum and Evans made a strong push down the home stretch to finish fourth and fifth, with Evans slipping by Arkansas Little Rock's Ida Nilsson to take fifth place. Both Meldrum and Evans joined Jackson as three of only seven women ever to eclipse the 10-minute barrier in the event.

Junior Holly Haguewood picked up the Cougars' first points of the meet with an eighth-place finish. Haguewood, who had been knocked down by Florida's Kamille Bratton on Wednesday, turned in a 2:09.76 to pick up a point for BYU.

In men's action, junior Mao Tjiroze was just off his life-time best by .66 seconds to pick up sixth place in the 800 meters with a time of 1:47.94. After the first 400 meters Tjiroze was in seventh place and began to pick up the pace at the 550-meter mark, passing Eliud Njubi of TCU on the final turn. A strong stride to the finish line held off Penn's Sam Burley, who finished .50 seconds behind Tjiroze, while Njaubi finished in 8th.

Fighting a 1.5 meters-per-second head wind, senior Kenneth Andam turned in a 11.28 in the second heat of the men's 100-meter semifinals to qualify for Saturday's final. Andam, who was running in lane two, benefited from a quick start to hold off a surging field for a third-place finish. Andam will enter Saturday's final ranked 6th and will run in lane seven, beginning at 6:50 p.m.