May 13, 2006
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Auburn women's track and field team is in third place entering the final day of competition at the 2006 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Arkansas. The Tiger women have 35 points with just eight of 21 events completed and are just two points behind Arkansas for second, but trail first-place Georgia by 53 points as the Bulldogs have racked up 88 points in the first eight events.
Despite Georgia's sizable lead in the women's race, Auburn is not completely out of contention for its first SEC outdoor title. All but three of the field events, which is Georgia's strength, are finished, while there are still 10 running events to be completed on the women's side.
Meanwhile, there have been just six finals on the men's side, and Auburn has had just one entry in those six events, scoring three points thanks to a sixth-place finish from Andrew Heath in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
"Our women are doing what they have to do and we're having a really good meet," said Auburn head coach Ralph Spry. "Unfortunately for us, Georgia is having a really good meet, too. Both of us are still the teams that have the best shot. We've got a couple of areas that we have a chance to really move up in points tomorrow. The thing I'm excited about is that we're competing well and putting ourselves in position to be there until the very end, and that's all we can ask for.
"On the men's side, we're really thin right now, but the guys that we did line up are running well. Our hurdlers ran well and moved on and Andy Heath scored some points for us tonight in the steeplechase. We've got chances tomorrow to score some more points."
During the five finals that were contested for the women on Saturday, Auburn had four athletes score points, highlighted by a clutch performance in the long jump by Jovanee Jarrett.
Jarrett finished second with a personal-best mark of 6.51m (21-4.25), bettering her previous best by one inch. She entered the competition seeded second, but opened with two fouls in the prelims. With one more chance to advance to the finals, she jumped 6.11m (20-0.25) to move on. Then after two subpar attempts which left her in fifth place with one jump left, she nailed her career best on her final attempt to move up to second place and earn four extra points for Auburn.
"I was really frustrated, but my coach spoke to me and I got myself together," said Jarrett, whose mark tied for fourth best in Auburn outdoor history. "I knew after I got to the finals what I had to do. I'm excited because I had a PR (personal record) and moved up from fifth place to second. I wanted to get to 6.60 meters, but maybe next time."
In the women's discus, Auburn had a pair of point scorers. Katalin Mate, seeded fifth, finished in fourth with a mark of 50.48m (165-7), while Ronda Gullatte matched her seed, finishing seventh with a throw of 49.93m (163-10). Mate's best mark came on her first attempt, wile Gullatte, who fouled on her first two attempts, came through on her third and final throw of the prelims with the mark that would earn her seventh place.
Michelle Williamson was fifth in the high jump for Auburn, clearing 1.75m (5-8.75). Williamson was one of three competitors to go out on that height, but had not missed up to that point, thus earning her the tiebreaker and fifth place. Raven Harris cleared 1.70m (5-7) before being eliminated, while Danielle Threatt jumped 1.65m (5-5).
Two other Tigers besides Jarrett competed in the women's long jump but did not score. Imani White was 19th (5.73m, 18-9.75) and Amelia Anderson did not have a legal mark.
Meanwhile, Heath ran his first steeplechase event since last year, and still managed to run a personal best with a regional qualifying time of 8:58.59 to finish sixth and earn Auburn three points. Heath will run the 5,000m as well on Sunday.
Although there were five finals for the women and three for the men on Saturday, most of the night was spent on prelims for Sunday's finals. Auburn advanced several athletes into the finals on both the men's and women's sides.
Josanne Lucas easily advanced into the finals of the 100m hurdles, winning her heat and posting the fastest time in the prelims with a mark of 13.15 seconds. Jasmine Johnson was sixth in her heat in :13.91, but did not advance, ranking 11th overall.
In the women's 400m, Markita James won her heat to advance to Sunday's final with a time of 53.06 seconds, which was fourth best during the prelims.
Kerron Stewart, who Friday qualified for the 200m finals, advanced to the finals of the 100m by posting a time of :11.41, finishing second in her heat and fourth overall in the prelims.
In the men's 110m hurdles, Auburn advanced two runners who both finished second in their heats. Shamar Sands posted a time of 13.93, which was the fourth best time in the prelims and a season best, while Ty Akins finished in 14.06 seconds. Tavaris Washington had a mark of :14.18 which placed him in 11th place in the prelims and out of the finals.
Jordan Davis moved on to the finals of the men's 1500m by finishing in the top three of his heat. Davis' time of 3:50.27 was third in his heat and ranked ninth overall. Three other Tigers ran in the 1500m but did not advance to the finals: Clay Askew (3:56.79, 23rd), Alex Amodeo (4:04.93, 29th) and Josh Pawlik (4:17.59, 30th).
Following Georgia (88), Arkansas (37) and Auburn (35) in the women's standings is Alabama (34.5), Mississippi State (24), South Carolina (18.5), Florida (18), Kentucky (17), Ole Miss (15), Vanderbilt (10), Tennessee (9) and LSU (6).
Arkansas leads the men's standings with 47 points, followed by Florida (30), Tennessee (29), LSU (26), South Carolina and Alabama (22), Kentucky and Ole Miss (20), Georgia (9), Mississippi State (6) and Auburn (3).
The SEC Outdoor Championships will conclude with 15 finals for the men and 13 for the women on Sunday.