Pac-10 Track: Record-breaking win for UW senior Shane Charles

EUGENE, Ore. — Washington senior Shane Charles broke school and Grenadan national records in winning the 400-meter hurdles Sunday, lifting the Huskies men to fourth in the final standings at the 2006 Pac-10 track and field championships at Hayward Field. The Huskies women finished seventh.

Charles' win was the third by a Huskies men's athlete at the two-day meet, Washington's highest number of individual titlists since 1976. Juan Romero won the javelin, and Norris Frederick won the long jump.

The men's fourth-place finish was the Huskies' best team finish at the Pac-10 championships since 1997. USC won the men's title with 140 points, edging out defending champion Oregon (133.5). Arizona State won its first Pac-10 women's team championship, the Sun Devils' 154 points narrowly holding off defending champion Stanford (151.5).

"This is one of the deepest, toughest conferences in America," said Huskies coach Greg Metcalf, "so to place fourth in this event is really something to be proud of."

Charles won the 400 hurdles in 49.51 seconds, just two-hundredths ahead of Washington State's Jon Casselman. The winning time crushed the previous UW record of 49.83 set in 1991, and was more than a half-second better than the Grenadan national record of 50.12 set by Charles earlier this year.

It is the second-fastest collegiate time in the nation this year, and among the 25 fastest times in the world in 2006.

"My last Pac-10 championships, to win and set a school record and break my national record ... it just means so much," Charles said.

The UW women were led by a number of outstanding performances, including runner-up efforts by Amy Lia in the 1,500 meters (4:18.88) and Carly Dockendorf in the pole vault (13 feet, 7 ¼ inches).

USC's Virginia Powell, a Rainier Beach High graduate, won the 100 hurdles — her 12.64 the best time in the world this season — and the 100-meter dash.

Compiled from sports-information reports.

Pac-10 Championships

At Eugene, Ore.

Results in feet except where noted

TEAM RESULTS

Women — 1, Arizona State, 154. 2, Stanford, 151.5. 3, USC, 112. 4, UCLA, 103. 5, Oregon, 97. 6, California, 76.50. 7, Washington, 41. 8, Washington St., 40. 9, Arizona, 37. 10, Oregon St., 4.

Men — 1, USC, 140. 2, Oregon, 133.5. 3, Arizona, 122. 4, Washington, 99.5, UCLA, 97.50. 6, Arizona St. 76. 7, Stanford, 60. 8, California, 53. 9, Washington St., 37.

WOMEN'S TOP FINISHERS

100 (W 1.8) — 1, Virginia Powell, USC, 11.10. 2, Janice Davis, Stanford, 11.29.

200 (W 2.6) — 1, Carol Rodriguez, USC, 22.81. 2, Janice Davis, Stanford, 23.03.

400 — 1, Chauntae Bayne, Stanford, 52.35. 2, Nicole Leach, UCLA, 52.61.

800 — 1, Rebekah Noble, Oregon, 2:05.81. 2, Alysia Johnson, California, 2:06.85.

1,500 — 1, Arianna Lambie, Stanford, 4:15.65. 2, Amy Lia, UW, 4:18.88.

5,000 — 1, Victoria Jackson, ASU, 16:09.73. 2, Kathleen Trotter, Stanford, 16:21.50. Also: 6, Anita Campbell, UW, 16:50.21.

100 hurdles (W 2.0) — 1, Virginia Powell, USC, 12.64. 2, Candice Davis, USC, 13.28. Also: 4, Ashley Lodree, UW, 13.59. 5, Diana Pickler, WSU, 13.74.

400 hurdles — 1, Nicole Leach, UCLA, 57.27. 2, Latosha Wallace, ASU, 58.14. Also: 4, Sara Trane, WSU, 1:01.39.

400 relay — 1, USC, 43.81. 2, Stanford, 44.39. Also: 5, WSU, 46.38. 6, UW 46.71.

1,600 relay — 1, Stanford, 3:32.69. 2, ASU, 3:33.23. Also: 6, UW, 3:43.61.

Triple jump — 1, Erica McLain, Stanford, 44-02.50. 2, Michelle Sanford, USC, 42-08.75.

Pole vault — 1, Chelsea Johnson, UCLA, 15-01.00. 2, Tamara Diles, 13-07.25. 3, Carly Dockendorf, UW, 13-07.25.

Hammer — 1, Eva Orban, USC, 221-07. 2, Sarah Hopping, Stanford, 219.08.

Discus — 1, Rachel Varner, Arizona, 181-03, 2, Kate Hutchinson, USC, 175-09. Also: 5, McKenzie Burgess Garberg, WSU, 163-06.

MEN'S TOP FINISHERS

100 (W 1.4) — 1, Philip Francis, USC, 10.25. 2, Richard Del Rincon, Oregon, 10.41. . Also: 5, Isaiah Stanback, UW, 10.50. 6, Jaycee Roberson, WSU, 10.53.

200 (W 1.7) — 1, Philip Francis, USC, 20.39. 2, Domenik Peterson, ASU, 20.71. Also: 6, Justin Woods, WSU, 21.14.

400 — 1, Matt Scherer, Oregon, 45.19. 2, Craig Everhart, UCLA, 45.78.

800 — 1, Duane Solomon, USC, 1:48.03. 2, Raphael Asafo-Agyei, USC, 1:49.07. 3, Ryan Brown, UW, 1:49.61. . Also: 6, Austin Abbott, UW 1:53.29.

1,500 — 1, Robert Cheseret, Arizona, 3:41.88. 2, Russell Brown, Stanford, 3:43.49. Also: 4, Austin Abbott, UW, 3:44.30.

5,000 — 1, Robert Cheseret, Arizona, 13:47.50. 2, Obed Mutanya, Arizona, 13:51.32.

110 hurdles (W 1.7) — 1, Eric Mitchum, Oregon, 13.56. 2, Kevin Craddock, UCLA, 13.73.

400 hurdles — 1, Shane Charles, UW, 49.51. 2, John Cassleman, WSU, 49.53.

400 relay — 1, Oregon, 39.74. 2, USC, 39.82. Also: 5, UW, 40.31. 6, WSU, 41.11.

1,600 relay — 1, USC, 3:05.74. 2, Oregon, 3:06.75. 3, UW, 3:07.08.

High jump — 1, Jesse Williams, USC, 7-04.50. 2, Norris Frederick, UW, 7-01.00. Also: 5, Warren Eickhoff, UW, 6-06.75.

Triple jump — 1, Ryan Zimmerman, ASU, 53-03.00. 2, Dominique Easterling, UCLA, 52-01.25.

Discus — 1, Greg Garza, UCLA, 194-01. 2, Adam Kuehl, Arizona, 190-03. 3, Matt Lamb, WSU, 189.09. 4, Will Conwell, UW, 186-06.