TEMPE – On Thursday UA track and field head coach Fred Harvey told his distance team that he penciled in Kenny Frank and Dylan Fitzpatrick to finish second and fourth in their two events, but Frank told Harvey he was wrong.
“”I asked him how the meet was looking, and he said we needed a lot of work to win it,”” said Frank, a junior. “”Then I asked him where he had us finishing and he said, ‘I think you guys will go two and four in the 15 and eight (1500m and 800m).’ I said, ‘Well I disagree, I think we’re gonna go one and two,’ and I really believed that.””
Frank proceeded to win his first college race ever by finishing first in the 1500m with a time of 3:50.53 and also won the 800m Saturday at the annual Double Dual against ASU and NAU in Tempe.
“”It felt pretty good to get that monkey off my back,”” Frank said.
Fitzpatrick placed second in the 1500m and third in the 800m.
“”I challenged them (Fitzpatrick and Frank) on Thursday in our training session,”” Harvey said. “”I gave them (ASU) one and two in the (800m and the 1500m). They said, ‘Coach, you’re wrong, you’ll see,’ and I told them, ‘Show me.’ “”
Though the distance runners flourished, both Arizona’s men’s and women’s teams lost to ASU and defeated NAU. The men’s team fell 110-86, while the women lost 115-80.
“”It’s been a very, very good (night),”” Harvey said Saturday. “”We knew what we were up against coming in. There’s no doubt they had a better team on the women’s side, but we have a really young team that’s really starting to take hold, (that is) really learning how to compete, and they’re really figuring out what this is all about, and it’s really cool.””
The men’s team had another strong performance from thrower Adam Kuehl.
His discus throw was his season’s best at 62.53m, which ranks third in the NCAA in 2007 and was a regional qualifying mark.
The women throwers showed a strong “”improvement,”” according to UA throws coach Craig Carter, even though they fell short of the ASU women’s team.
Gabriella Duclos broke her own Canadian junior world record in the pole vault after breaking it last week with a mark of 4.20m to win the competition.
“”We had some good marks today,”” Carter said, “”but the ASU girls have got some studs, but I think we did well, and I think there’s a couple of them we can beat down the road in these next couple of weeks here.””
Harvey ran a new 4×100 men’s team with Marcus Tyus, Bobby McCoy, Troy Harris and Xiong Xuehan, and the group rewarded him with a season-best time of 39.78 seconds.
McCoy was on the team for the first time replacing Antoine Cason on the 4×100m relay.
Cason will not be able to compete in the Pacific 10 Championships May 12-13 because of an event honoring the Playboy All-American football team, to which Cason was named.
Harris and Tyus set personal bests in individual events as well. Harris ran a 10.54 in the 100m and 21.51 in the 200m, while Tyus ran a 21.49 in the 200m for his personal best.
