UCLA’s Johnson blazes past McIntosh in hurdles
SACRAMENTO — Seated in front of her computer on Wednesday afternoon, Sheena Johnson unearthed an article on the NCAA Web site that proclaimed Texas hurdler Raasin McIntosh “invincible.”
Over the next two days, the UCLA junior proved you can’t believe everything you read.
Carrying a Texas-sized chip on her shoulders, Johnson outran McIntosh head-to-head in the 400-meter hurdle semifinals Thursday before scorching her again in the finals Friday evening. Her winning mark of 54.24 seconds was an NCAA meet record and the No. 2 all-time mark in collegiate history.
“I didn’t believe the time would be this fast,” said Johnson, who topped her previous personal best by nearly a second and a half. “I was just hoping to set a personal record. To actually run this well was really great.”
Although Johnson owned the second-fastest qualifying time in the nation coming into the NCAA meet this year, her season best mark (55.88) was more than a full second behind that of McIntosh (54.60).
Nonetheless she maintained a slight lead over her rival throughout the majority of the race before a devastating kick in the final 50-meters put the race out of reach.
“Coming in as a freshman, a lot was expected of me,” Johnson said. “To finally win this year means a lot to me and my coaches because it’s something we’ve all been waiting for a while now.”
For two long years in fact.
After arriving in Westwood as the most decorated prep hurdler in the nation in 2000, Johnson posted the top qualifying time in the nation her freshman year, but a sluggish time in the prelims at the NCAA meet cost her a spot in the finals. Even a fourth-place finish last June in Baton Rouge wasn’t enough to exercise the memory of the previous setback.
“Not making the finals her freshman year was such a big disappointment,” UCLA head coach Jeanette Bolden said. “The cries, the tears, the talks – she’s basically carried that with her for two years. For her to turn around and win this year made her very happy.”
All in all, Johnson ran in five races in Sacramento – three in the long hurdles and two in the short. She culminated her stay in the capital city with an eighth-place finish in the 100m hurdles Saturday night, establishing a new personal record mark of 13.09 seconds, the No. 4 time in school history.
McIntosh finished third, but that was merely a consolation prize after the disappointment of the previous night.
Meanwhile an exhausted Johnson reclined in a chair after the race, still basking in the afterglow of her unexpected victory the night before.
“I’m just really happy,” Johnson said. “I was pretty tired, and my legs were a little dead, but I got another personal record. It was a great week for me.”
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