Cougar freshman wins NCAA title in 800-meter race

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — True freshman Lacey Cramer secured BYU's second individual national championship in as many days with her first-place finish in the 800-meter race at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

Cramer and junior Amy Menlove, who won the pentathalon national championship on Friday, became the first duo to claim two national titles for BYU at a single meet. Their wins secured a No. 3 final national ranking for the Cougars, a notable move up from last week's No. 19 ranking.

"It was an incredible meet," said BYU women's head track and field coach Craig Poole. "This is great for our program. I couldn't be happier for our athletes. They were so impressive all weekend long."

With 32 meet points the 2009 women's track team solidified itself as the best indoor team in school history. Its No. 3 final ranking marks the highest ever achieved by a BYU team, with the previous program high of No. 4 coming in 1981 and 1970.

Cramer's 800-meter run also marks the school's first national championship in that event. Her time of 2:04.27 was good enough to upset the nations top-seed Phoebe Wright of Tennessee, last year's champion LaTiva Thomas of LSU and the 2006 champion Heather Dorniden of Minnesota.

"It was probably the most exciting race of the meet," said BYU distance coach Patrick Shane.

Cramer, who sat in fourth place heading into the final turn, took advantage of a gap on the inside lane and made a final push for the finish line. Cramer used all of her 5-foot-7 frame to edge out Wright, who finished .11 seconds behind the Cedar Hills native.

"There was plenty of contact throughout the race and Lacey just stayed patient and smart," Shane said. "National champions are incredibly rare and freshmen national champions are almost unheard of. Her performance yesterday and her title run today were phenomenal."

Cramer set the 800-meter school and Mountain West Conference record on Friday and capped off her weekend with a national championship that earned BYU 10 meet points. Cramer is the first Cougar to win a national championship as a freshman.

"It was crazy," Cramer said. "I wasn't expecting to win it, but the first lane opened up in the last 100-meters and I went for it. It was an incredible race."

Also earning All-America honors on Saturday was sophomore standout Katie Palmer, who finished fourth in the 800-meter event. Palmer's time of 2:04.75 secured the Cougars four points. Palmer also finished ahead of last year's champion Thomas, who took fifth in a time of 2:04.89.

"Katie ran her heart out and I'm incredibly proud of her," Shane said. "What is really great is all of these athletes will be back next year. I think BYU can really make a statement in the next two years."