TRACK / NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Arkansas Is Favored Again

NEW ORLEANS — Arkansas track Coach John McDonnell is not fussy.

“Titles are titles,” he said. “We’ll take them anywhere we can get them.”

Under McDonnell, the Razorbacks have won 18 NCAA championships--an NCAA record by a collegiate coach in any sport--and are favored to win No. 19 under in the NCAA Outdoor Championships that begin today at Tad Gormley Stadium, site of last year’s U.S. Olympic trials.

UCLA is counting on strong performances by Tony Miller, the 1992 Pacific 10 Conference champion in the 100 and 200 meters, and John Godina, the Pac-10 shotput and discus champion.

USC is not expected to contend for the team title, but hopes to get a strong individual performances by Jeff Laynes, who was fifth in the 100 and made it to the semifinals in the 200 last year as a junior.

Louisiana State is the overwhelming favorite to win its seventh consecutive women’s title in the four-day meet.

USC’s Inger Miller could figure prominently in the 100 and 200 if the hamstring injury that sidelined her for last month’s Pac-10 meet has healed. UCLA’s Dawn Dumble, a three-time Pac-10 champion in shotput and discus, won the 1992 NCAA indoor shotput championship and was fourth in both the shotput and discus in last year’s outdoor championships.