FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Florida sophomore Kerron Clement broke Michael Johnson's world 400-meter record Saturday night, an unexpected display of speed that overshadowed team titles for the Arkansas men and Tennessee women at the NCAA Indoor track and field championships.

Florida's Kerron Clement, left, and Louisiana State's Kelly Willie round a curve in the 400 meter run during the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., Saturday, March 12, 2005. Clement won the event in world record time at 44.57 seconds. Willie finished third with a time of 45.41 seconds. (AP Photo/April L. Brown)

Clement, just 19 years old, outran a strong field and stunned the crowd with a 44.57-second clocking, breaking Johnson's mark of 44.63 set on March 4, 1995, at the U.S. Indoor championships in Atlanta.

"This is amazing," Clement said. "I can't describe how I feel right now."

Clement, born in Trinidad, moved to the United States and was a highly sought high school athlete at La Porte, Texas, both as a hurdler and sprinter. He chose Florida over LSU, Texas, Tennessee and Baylor.

Terry Gatson of Arkansas was second in 45.29 and Kelly Willie of LSU third at 45.41. Darold Williamson, anchor of the Olympic gold medal 1,600-meter relay team in Athens, was fourth at 46.26.

It was the first world record set at the Randal Tyson Track Center, which opened in 2000.

Clement capped his magnificent night by anchoring the victorious Florida 1,600-meter relay team in a collegiate record 3:03.51.

Clement, who became a U.S. citizen last summer, won the world junior and NCAA 400-meter hurdles outdoors last year as a freshman, and still considers that his best event.

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as the time was shown on the event scoreboard after he crossed the finish line.

"Seriously, I wanted to cry," Clement said, "because it was so overwhelming that I knew I broke the world record of the great Michael Johnson, and now I have it."

Clement's previous best in the 400 was 45.29 on the same track at the Southeastern Conference championships two weeks ago. He was sixth in the 200 meters on Friday night.

The record was the only world indoor mark held by Johnson, the five-time Olympic gold medalist. Johnson still holds the world outdoor records at 200 and 400 meters.

The Arkansas men overcame a disqualification in the distance medley relay and an injury to sprinter Tyson Gay to win its 18th NCAA Indoor title and 40th national cross country or track title in coach John McDonnell's 33 years as Razorbacks coach.

"I really believe, as far as competing, this was probably as good a performance as we've ever had," the 66-year-old coach said. "Our guys laying it on the line when our backs were totally to the wall."

The Razorbacks accumulated 56 points. Florida was second with 46 and Wisconsin third with 43.

The clincher came when Peter Kosgei, an Arkansas sophomore from Kenya who transferred from Harding University, finished second to Chris Solinsky of Wisconsin in the 3,000, the meet's next-to-last event. The knowledgeable home crowd began its "Piggggg Sooooey!" yell, and McDonnell had to ask for quiet so the women's 1,600-meter relay could begin.

Tennessee, under coach J.J. Clark, won its first NCAA women's title outside the sport of basketball, wrapping up the crown with a second-place finish in that relay, behind winner South Carolina. The Lady Vols finished with 46 points, to 36 for runner-up Florida. Miami was third with 32.

"Coach Clark calls us his ninjas and we just basically scratched and fought for everything we earned this week," said Tianna Madison, the 19-year-old Tennessee sophomore who won the long jump and was third in the 60-meter dash. "It's the first of many."

Earlier, New Zealander Nick Willis of Michigan took the lead with 200 meters to go and comfortably won the mile in 4:00.69.

Willis' Michigan teammates were at the heart of a controversy Friday night when the Wolverines protested Arkansas' victory in the distance medley relay and the Razorbacks were disqualified, a serious blow to their title hopes.

When the awards for that event were presented Saturday night, most of the crowd booed when Michigan was announced as the winner.

In the closest race of the night, Tiandra Ponteen of Florida beat Hazelann Regis of LSU by one-hundredths of a second in the women's 400, 50.91 seconds to 50.92.

Kevin Hicks of Florida A&M, the winner at the U.S. championships two weeks ago, ran away from the field over the final 50 meters to win the 800 at 1:46.97.

Nebraska women won two events on Saturday.

Anne Shadle, in her first national competition, set the pace early and stayed in front to win the women's mile in 4:38.23, holding off Shannon Rowbury of Duke, who was second in 4:39.02. Ashley Selig of Nebraska won the pentathlon with 4,327 points, edging runner-up Amy Menlove of BYU by 15 points.

"There was no pressure on me," a surprised Shadle said, "because nobody knew who I was."

Candice Scott of Florida, third in the shot put on Friday, broke her collegiate record in the weight throw at 79 feet, 3 3/4 inches.