Track And Field Opens Outdoor Season With 12 Titles At Springtime Invitational

March 25, 2006

Results

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn men's and women's track teams competed for the first time at the new Hutsell-Rosen Track as the Tigers hosted the Springtime Invitational Saturday. The Tigers opened the new track in successful fashion, claiming 12 event titles and posting five regional qualifying marks in gusty conditions.

"This brings back a lot of good memories," said coach Ralph Spry about Auburn hosting a meet for the first time since 2003. "It's nice to compete right here at home in front of the Auburn folks so they don't have to travel. It's nice to get back in the swing of things with a home competition.

"We're just a couple of weeks off of the NCAA Indoor Championships, so all we tried to do this weekend was just get our feet wet and get the ball rolling. We tried to run everybody in just one event to break the ice and get the outdoor season started. Overall, I was pleased with the effort and it went pretty well. Now we'll roll up our sleeves and get serious."

The Auburn women field event athletes already appeared to be serious, winning five events. In the women's long jump, Imani White was the winner with a regional qualifying mark of 6.31m (20-8.5), which was a personal best for her and the sixth-best mark in Auburn outdoor history. Amelia Anderson won the triple jump with a leap of 12.27m (40-3.25), which ranks her ninth in school outdoor history.

Ronda Gullatte won the women's hammer throw with a regional qualifying mark of 57.36m (188-2), which was just shy of her career best of 189-2. Gullatte also placed second in the discus with a throw of 47.22m (154-11), just missing the regional qualifying mark of 47.30.

In the shot put, Katalin Mate posted the third-best mark in school history, recording a winning mark of 14.46m (47-5.25), which was another regional qualifying mark. Michelle Williamson was another field event winner for the Auburn women, winning the high jump with a leap of 1.65m (5-5).

The women runners performed well as well, led by Josanne Lucas, who posted a winning time of 13.94 seconds in the 100m hurdles, which just missed the regional qualifying standard of 13.92 seconds despite a strong headwind. Jasmine Johnson was second in that event with a time of :14.57, and also won the 400m hurdles in 1:10.97.

In the women's 200m, Auburn took the top three spots, as Markita James won the event in 24.15 seconds, Tamara Thomas was second in :24.49, and Jovanee Jarrett was third in :24.97. Willette Miller was the winner in the women's 800m, posting a time of 2:19.22.

The men's team featured a strong performance from the 4x100m relay team of Tavaris Washington, Reuben McCoy, Ty Akins and Jamaal Barnes, who raced to victory in a regional qualifying time of 40.61 seconds.

Akins also excelled in the men's 110m hurdles, posting a winning time of :14.02, which easily met the regional qualifying standard of 14.30 seconds.

McCoy also won an individual event, claiming the 400m dash title in 47.29 seconds, just missing the regional qualifying mark of 47.26.

Drew Lovette was the other first-place finisher for the men's team, winning the men's pole vault by clearing 4.75m (15-7).

In the men's 1500m, Clay Askew placed second with a time of 4:00.33, while Alex Amodeo was right behind in third place in 4:01.94. Askew also finished second in the 3000m with a mark of 8:59.23.

Auburn will return to action next Saturday (April 1) when the Tigers compete at the Georgia Tech Invitational.