March 11, 2006
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Auburn women finished tied for eighth and the men tied for 19th as the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships wrapped up Saturday in front of 5,596 fans at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Seven Auburn athletes earned 10 All-American honors during the two-day meet, including an Auburn record-tying three by junior Kerron Stewart. It marked the third top-ten finish in the last four years for the Auburn women, while the men finished in the top 20 for the fourth straight year.
Texas won the women's title with 51 points, followed by Stanford (36), Arizona State (30), North Carolina (29), Miami (27), Georgia (27), LSU (25) and Auburn and Southern California, who scored 21 points each. The Auburn men scored 10 points, as Arkansas won the championships with 53 points, followed by LSU (45), Florida State (41), Texas (35) and Tennessee (25).
"In the women's meet, I didn't feel like we really lined up like we should have, and I don't think we had the kind of meet we could have had, but we still finished in the top 10, so I'm pleased with that," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We ran hard. Our jumpers didn't hit it like we should have, but the mile relay at the end kind of capped it off for us. We have something to build on now for outdoors, and I think we'll be an even better outdoor team."
Stewart, who finished sixth in Friday's 200m final, recorded a fourth-place finish in a very tight 60m dash for her second All-American honor. Stewart, who had the seventh-fastest time in the prelims, raced to a time of 7.23 seconds from her position in lane one. She was just .03 seconds behind the winner, Marshevet Hooker of Texas, while UNLV's Ashley Owens (7.20) and LSU's Kelly Ann Baptiste (7.22) were also just a hair ahead of Stewart.
Less than an hour later, Stewart ran the third leg on Auburn's 4x400m relay team which broke the school record by more than two seconds. Seniors Josanne Lucas, Tamara Thomas and anchor Markita James joined Stewart in running a time of 3:29.50, just .17 seconds behind winner LSU, earning Auburn four more All-American awards. They shattered the previous school record that the same foursome set at the Tyson Invitational last month (3:31.66).
Stewart became only the fifth Auburn track and field athlete, male or female, to earn All-American honors in three events at one NCAA indoor championship meet. She joined Alexander Wright (1989 - 55m/200m/ 4x400m relay), Juliet Campbell (1992 - 55m/200m/4x400m relay), Coby Miller (55m/200m/4x400m relay) and Elva Goulbourne (2003 - 60m/triple jump/long jump) as three-time All-Americans at one indoor meet.
"It feels really good," said Stewart. "I just went out there and worked really hard, and it's paying off. I believe in coach (Henry) Rolle, and I believe in our team. I can't complain about anything."
Markita James earned two All-American honors, as she also finished fourth in the 400m dash, breaking her own school record with a time of 52.56 seconds. James, whose previous record was a mark of :52.64, ranked eighth in the prelims Friday with a time of 53.22, but she ran a smarter race Saturday, using a strong kick to push her way into fourth.
"I was excited," said James. "I trained hard every day, and all I had to do was just come out here and put it all together. And that's what I did."
For Lucas and Thomas, the 4x400m relay marked the fourth All-American honor during the career of each, while James' All-American accolade was the second of her career.
Meanwhile, the Auburn men's team scored all 10 of its points in the weight throw as Cory Martin placed third and Jacob Dunkleberger finished fifth. Martin, the runner-up at last year's NCAA indoor meet, took back the school record on his first throw of the day, posting a mark of 22.89m (75-1.25). Martin had broken his own school record two weeks ago at the SEC Indoor Championships with a throw of 22.24m, only to see Dunkleberger top that mark at last weekend's Cyclone National Qualifier with a distance of 22.36m. Martin, who entered the competition seeded fifth, had five of his six throws travel at least 22.23m, but could not extend his top mark after his first throw.
"Anytime you can come out and open with a big throw like that and make people chase you it's always a good thing," said Martin. "Consistency is always a good thing, but you always want that one big throw."
Dunkleberger, who came in seeded third after last week's performance, squeaked into the final on his third throw of the prelims with a mark of 21.05m, which gave him the ninth of nine spots in the finals. After a foul, he improved to 21.70m on his third throw before posting a distance of 22.17m (72-9) on his final throw.
"We had a big start to the day with Cory Martin and Jacob Dunkleberger in the weight throw," said Spry. "Cory did a phenomenal job, and Jake came up big at the end. That was big for us because that put our men in the top 20."
Martin earned All-American honors for the fourth time in his career, while Dunkleberger, in his first season at Auburn after transferring from Miami (Ohio), became an All-American for the third time. It marked the first time the Auburn men's team has had two top-five performers in one event at the NCAA Indoor Championships since 1989, when Alexander Wright and Clifton Campbell placed third and fifth, respectively, in the 200m.
The other competitor for Auburn on Saturday was freshman Michelle Vaughn, who placed 14th in the triple jump. Vaughn entered the competition seeded fifth, but fouled on her first attempt before leaping 12.81m (42-0.5) on her second attempt. Her third attempt measured 12.60 and failed to advance her to the finals.
With the conclusion of the NCAA Indoor Championships, Auburn will take a weekend off before opening the outdoor season March 25 when the Tigers host the Springtime Invitational at the new Hutsell-Rosen Track.
A tape-delayed broadcast of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be shown on ESPN2 on Tuesday, March 14 at 1:30 p.m. CT.
2006 Auburn Track and Field Indoor All-Americans
Jacob Dunkleberger - weight throw
Angela Homan - 5,000m
Markita James - 400m/4x400m relay
Josanne Lucas - 4x400m relay
Cory Martin - weight throw
Kerron Stewart - 60m/200m/4x400m relay
Tamara Thomas - 4x400m relay