April 7, 2006
AUSTIN, Texas - The Auburn men's and women's track and field teams continued action at the 79th Texas Relays Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Although the morning got off to a rocky start with a disqualification in the first event of the day, all seven of Auburn's competitors that followed posted regional qualifying marks.
The day got off to a rough start when Auburn's No. 1-ranked women's 4x100m relay team failed to advance to the finals after botching the final exchange and did not finish the race. The Tigers were near the front of the pack entering the last exchange zone and likely would have qualified for the finals with ease.
Two hours later, the women's 4x400m relay team of Josanne Lucas, Tamara Thomas, Kerron Stewart and Markita James fared much better, posting the second-fastest time during the prelims with a mark of 3:31.73, which ranks second in Auburn outdoor history. Auburn's time, which easily met the regional qualifying standard, was just .02 seconds behind Texas A&M for the top time of the day.
A pair of hurdlers advanced to Saturday's finals by winning their heats during Friday's prelims. In the women's 100m hurdles, Lucas improved her personal-best and her regional qualifying time by clocking a :13.23 to win her heat while tying for the second fastest time out of 66 competitors in the prelims.
In the men's 110m hurdles, Ty Akins posted the seventh-fastest time out of 56 runners in the prelims with a mark of 14.07 seconds. Tavaris Washington also ran in the 110m hurdles, but his time of :14.21 ranked him 15th and did not advance him to the finals, although it was his best mark of the season and a regional qualifying time.
Auburn had a pair of discus throwers that competed in the finals of that event, led by Katalin Mate, who finished in fifth place with a regional qualifying mark of 51.71m (169-8), which ranks her third in Auburn history. Ronda Gullatte, who finished fourth in Thursday's hammer throw, placed eighth with another regional qualifying throw of 48.59m (159-5), although it fell just short of her mark of 49.00m set last week at the Yellow Jacket Invitational.
In the women's high jump, Michelle Williamson finished eighth with a regional qualifying leap of 1.75m (5-8.75), which equaled her best mark of the season.
"For the most part we're having a good meet," said head coach Ralph Spry. "Even Tavaris, though he didn't qualify for the finals, ran a personal best and qualified for regionals. The 4x100m relay was frustrating because they were running so well and would have had one of the best times. But other than that, we're competing well. We're having a good meet."
Action at the Texas Relays continues through Saturday. Members of the Auburn track and field team will also compete Saturday at the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.