Ohio State’s Taylor Completes Sweep of Throw Events at 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
March 13, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State senior thrower Dan Taylor completed the sweep of the throw events at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. with a first-place measure in the weight throw Saturday afternoon. Taylor, who holds the American collegiate record in the weight at 78 feet, 9 L inches (78-9.25/24.01m), tossed a mark of 77-7.50 (23.66m) to top runner-up Keith McBride of Purdue (71-2.75/ 21.71m) by more than 6 feet. Taylor’s two first-place efforts helped the Buckeye men to a ninth-place standing in the team competition.
Friday at the event, which is being held at the University of Arkansas’s Randall Tyson Indoor Track Center, Taylor bested the field in the shot put to claim Ohio State’s first NCAA indoor title since 2001. With the wins, Taylor becomes the first student-athlete to win both competitions at the national indoor meet in NCAA history.
“To win both at this level feels unbelievable,” Taylor, a native of Middlefield, Ohio, said. “If you think about how long they have been running the indoor nationals and to be the first to win both the shot and the weight is amazing. I could not have finished my indoor career any better. Going undefeated all season in both events, including the national meet is special. I cannot think of anything more I could have wanted out of this season.”
The first-place finishes in both events also qualify Taylor as the first Buckeye to capture multiple NCAA indoor crowns in the same season since former Buckeye Donald Bennett claimed the national titles in the 100-yard and 220-yard dash events in 1932. Taylor joins Bennett, George Simpson, who won the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes in 1928, and Chris Nelloms, the winner of the 200-meter dash at the 1993 and 1994 national meets, as the only Buckeyes to win two NCAA indoor titles in a career. Former Ohio State great Jesse Owens won multiple national titles in the 1935 and 1936 outdoor seasons, but did not win a national championship indoors. Taylor, who prepped at Berkshire High School, won the shot put Friday, recording a throw of 66-7.25 (20.30m) in his fifth and final attempt.
The two-time defending Big Ten champion in both throw events was the national runner-up in the shot put and the third-place finisher the weight at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Two Buckeyes compete on the women’s side later Saturday as junior Rosalind Goodwin (goes in the triple jump and sophomore Amarachi Ukabam will throw in the shot put.
2004 NCAA Indoor Championships Men’s Weight Throw Final – Saturday, March 13 1. Dan Taylor SR Ohio State 23.66m 77-07.50 10 23.01m – 23.66m – FOUL – 23.02m – FOUL – 23.11m 2. Keith McBride SR Purdue 21.71m 71-02.75 8 21.20m – FOUL – 21.71m – 21.40m – 21.60m – FOUL 3. Dan Ames SR UCLA 21.70m 71-02.50 6 20.87m – 20.79m – 21.34m – 21.70m – 21.70m – FOUL
2004 NCAA Indoor Championships Men’s Shot Put Final – Friday, March 12 1. Dan Taylor SR Ohio State 20.30m 66-07.25 19.37m – 19.37m – 19.97m – 19.51m – 20.26m – 20.30m 2. Carl Myerscough SR Nebraska 20.19m 66-03.00 19.77m – FOUL – 20.19m – 19.58m – 20.00m – FOUL 3. Dan Ames SR UCLA 19.98m 65-06.75 19.98m – 19.26m – 19.04m – 18.84m – 19.00m – 19.71m
Complete results of the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships may be viewed at Arkansas’ official website www.ladybacks.com.
