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--> --> Ducks grab lead at NCAA By Landon Hall AP Sports Writer EUGENE - Without a star to carry them, the Oregon Ducks somehow have grabbed the lead midway through the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Led by Santiago Lorenzo's decathlon title, the host school had 27 points after Thursday's second day of competition. That's 11 more than second-place Georgia, Southern California and Utah State, and 26 more than defending champion Stanford. "We've had a wonderful first two days," Oregon coach Martin Smith said. While Oregon has five NCAA team titles, the Ducks really don't figure to challenge for this year's championship. The situation might be different if they had someone who could leap as far as Savante Stringfellow. The Ole Miss senior and Superman aficionado won his second straight NCAA long jump title, soaring 27 feet, 1 1/4 inches. Stringfellow's Southeastern Conference rival, LSU junior Walter Davis, finished second with a leap of 26-10 1/2. The young men have been swapping a red-and-blue Superman T-shirt, depending on who wins the head-to-head competition between the Olympians. Davis last wore the shirt after winning the SEC title. "It's been going back and forth between me and Walter, and now it's mine for good," said Stringfellow, whose action-hero fixation also includes tattoos on his left biceps and left leg. After his victory, the brash Stringfellow issued a challenge to his idol, world record-holder Mike Powell. The two will be back at Oregon's Hayward Field later this month for the U.S. championships. Powell is making a comeback after a four-year absence. "I saw Mike Powell after this thing, and I told him if he was ready, we can go right now," Stringfellow said. "He made some excuse; he didn't have his shoes. So Mike Powell, I'm ready for you next. I'm ready to send him back to coaching. "In order to be the best, you have to beat the best, and to me Mike Powell is the person I've been looking up to forever." Stringfellow, jumping in the first flight, quickly put the pressure on Davis, soaring 27-1 1/4 on his first attempt. He passed his next two attempts, trying to conserve his energy for the final. Davis, jumping in the second flight, went 26-10 1/2 and 26-10 on his first two tries, then fouled. In the final, Stringfellow improved on each jump, opening with 26-10 1/2, followed by 27-0 and his winning leap of 27-1 3/4. Davis began his final round with two fouls, then finished at 26-8 1/4. Oregon has produced 47 NCAA champions, but never one in the decathlon. Lorenzo, a senior from Argentina, took care of that with a dramatic finish in the 1,500. Georgia junior David Lemen, who led entering the race, started quickly, but then faded out of contention. Tennessee's Stephen Harris moved into the lead after a quarter-mile, but Lorenzo held his ground and finished second in the race in 4 minutes, 21.84 seconds. Lorenzo, who needed to beat Harris by 2 seconds to win the title, looked back over his left shoulder after crossing the line. He bested Harris by nearly 4 seconds. "I can't think of a better thing that could have happened," Lorenzo said. "I wasn't even first heading into the 1,500, and I really had to work for it. It was amazing." Lorenzo finished with 7,889 points, a career best by 163. Harris, the first-day leader, was second with 7,871 points; Lemen was third with 7,790. The other winners in Thursday's finals were men's high jumper Charles Clinger of Weber State at 7-6 1/2; men's hammer thrower Andras Haklits of Georgia at 247-8; women's shot putter Christina Tolson of UCLA at 57-0 3/4; and women's 10,000-meter runner Any Yoder-Begley of Arkansas at 33 minutes, 59.96 seconds. Clinger, the world leader in the high jump at 7-8 1/2 and the NCAA indoor champion, had to go to a jumpoff with Utah State's Dave Hoffman before winning. The jumpoff began at 7-7 3/4. Both missed their one jump at that height, and both missed again at 7-6 1/2, before Clinger cleared 7-5 1/4 and Hoffman missed. The winning height was determined on the last height Clinger cleared before the jumpoff. "That was tremendous," Clinger said. "Me and Dave have gone against each other every track meet throughout the year, and he just pushed me all the way. It just came down to a raw, gritty competition." One day before having back surgery, Haklits accomplished a rare feat at the championships - he won his second hammer throw title for a second school. Haklits, the hammer throw winner for Northeast Louisiana in 1999, won his latest title for the Bulldogs, throwing 247-8. "I miss Libor (Charfreitag, the 2000 champion from SMU)," the Croat said, "because we always compete very well with each other. If he was here today, he probably beats me." Haklits will undergo surgery Friday for a bulging disc and bone fragments in his back. The injuries kept him from throwing for nearly two months. Tennessee's Leonard Scott and freshman Justin Gatlin, heat winners in the men's 200 Wednesday, also won their heats in the 100 Thursday. Scott was clocked in 10.05, the fastest by a collegian this year, Gatlin ran a wind-aided 10.08. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing