AP PhotoSACRAMENTO, CALIF. ? Kansas University’s Leo Bookman has completed a sweep of the NCAA 200-meter dash titles.
Bookman, who won the NCAA Indoor title earlier this year, added the NCAA Outdoor 200 title Saturday.
“It was a really close race,” Bookman said, “but I pulled it out. I knew if I just got out of the blocks and pushed it that I could do it. It really feels great.”
Bookman, a defensive back on the KU football team, won Saturday in 20.47 seconds — a hundreth of a second ahead of Hampton’s Jerome Mathis.
“We’re really excited for him,” Kansas track coach Stanley Redwine said. “He worked for this all year, and he deserves it. To do both sports is very difficult, and to excel is even more difficult. We’re proud of what he has accomplished.”
Bookman’s time was his second fastest this season. His personal best of 20.37 came in the Big 12 Outdoor, where he placed second.
“I worked really, really hard for this, and coach Redwine trained me well to get ready for it,” Bookman said. “I’m going to just enjoy the win and relax this weekend and get ready to focus on football next.”
Also Saturday, the Jayhawks’ Mark Menefee placed 13th in the 5,000 in 14:04.14 and earned All-America honors.
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. ? Kansas University junior Leo Bookman took first place in the 200-meter dash Friday at the 2003 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Arkansas.
Bookman, a native of Galveston, Texas, finished in a school-record time of 20.53, earning All-America honors for the second straight year. The KU speedster made up for a disappointing finish at the Big 12 Conference indoor meet, where he was disqualified in the preliminary race for a lane violation.
Bookman, a wide receiver on the KU football team, finished seventh in the 200 meters at the 2002 NCAA indoors.
“The competition was tough because there were guys here that were running fast times all season,” Bookman said. “But I knew that if I ran a clean race, that there was no one here that could beat me.
“I wasn’t worried about making a mistake again. I just took my time and was patient and made sure that I got out of the blocks correctly.”
KU coach Stanley Redwine said Bookman had earned the victory.
“He worked his butt off to get here, and he really deserved to win,” Redwine said. “We’re really excited for him and glad we have him on our side.”
Heavily favored Arkansas topped the men’s team standings with 19 points. Nebraska was second with 16.
Also Friday, junior Muna Lee of LSU, a Kansas City, Mo., native, broke Merlene Ottey’s collegiate record in the women’s 200-meter preliminaries in 22.49 seconds.
