Feb. 10, 2007
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - - Auburn concluded its last meet before the SEC Championships by improving four qualifying marks and winning two events Saturday at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
Kerron Stewart and Tracy Ann Rowe both improved their times in the 200m, and Michelle Vaughn recorded a season-best mark to win the triple jump. Jacob Dunkleberger bettered his qualifying mark in the weight throw, but finished second to teammate Cory Martin.
"It was a pretty good day for us," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "Kerron and Tracy continue to post solid marks in the 200, and Jacob did a great job against tough competition in the weight throw."
Stewart posted a preliminary-round time of 23.00, which was a quarter of a second faster than her previous season-best and the second fastest time in the nation this season. Rowe clocked in at 23.42 in the prelims and then 23.36 in the finals to improve her provisional time by .46 seconds. Rowe finished third, and Stewart did not compete in the finals.
Vaughn jumped 13.31m (43-8) in the triple jump championship to win the event and improve her provisional mark by three inches.
Dunkleberger posted a throw of 21.87m (71-9), which improved his automatic mark by 11 inches, but finished second to teammate Martin and his 22.56 (74-0.25) throw.
Auburn's other performance of note came from the Husky Invitational in Seattle, Wash. Freshman Felix Kiboiywo ran a time of 4:03.05 in the mile, which is a season-best for him and a provisional qualifying mark.
Back in Fayetteville, Donald Thomas tied his own school record in the high jump with a mark of 2.3m (7-6.5) and finished second.
Two other men, Scott Novack and Simon Nyang improved their season-bests in the 800m with times of 1:54.82 and 1:56.22, respectively. Novack finished 8th and Nyang 17th.
Mark Johnson struggled in the pole vault, posting a mark of 5.05m (16-6.75), and Hailey Foster ran a 22.75 in the 200m to round out the day's efforts on the men's team.
On the women's team, Shaquela Williams clocked in at 24.97 in the 200m, which slightly improves her season best, and Danielle Gilchrist clocked in at 25.37 to improve her season best by .31 seconds.
The only other women to compete Saturday were Sabrina Fischer, who finished the 800m in a time of 2:17.42, and Raevan Harris, who took sixth place in the high jump with a mark of 1.75m (5-8.75).
Auburn will compete at the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 23-25 in Lexington, Ky.