April 5, 2008
Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
AUBURN, Ala. - For the second weekend in a row, the Auburn track and field team battled rainy conditions, but it didn't prevent the Tigers from having another successful meet, as Auburn set or improved on 21 regional qualifying marks and won seven events Saturday at the Tiger Track Classic at Hutsell-Rosen Stadium.
"For a lot of our athletes this was our outdoor opener because so much of last weeks' meet was cancelled due to the weather," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We had more rain to deal with today, but it gives us a chance to get tough and sometimes that's what you need. For the most part, I'm pleased with how both our men and women lined up and competed."
Freshman Joanna Atkins was perhaps the star of the day, as she had the top time by collegians in two events plus a relay, cracking the Auburn top 10 in both individual races. She won the women's 100m with a time of 11.39, improving her regional qualifying mark of 11.43 set two weeks ago. Her time ranks ninth best in school history and only two collegiate athletes had posted better times entering this weekend. Freshman Cache Armbrister was fifth in 11.76 seconds.
Atkins later finished second overall and first among collegians in the 200m with a time of 23.30, which ranks second in the NCAA and tied for seventh in school history.
Atkins also teamed with Shaquela Williams, Cache Armbrister and Amelia Anderson in the women's 4x100m relay to finish second overall and first among collegians with a time of 44.68, improving their regional qualifying mark from last week of 44.79.
Anderson also won the women's 400m hurdles with a regional qualifying time of 59.29. It was a personal-best time for Anderson that ranks her sixth in school history.
Auburn's men continued to show that they have possible the best throws group in the country, following yesterday's victory by Jacob Dunkleberger in the hammer throw with two more victories and seven regional qualifying marks in the discus and shot put.
Zach Clayton, in his first collegiate competition, won the discus throw with a regional qualifying mark of 54.98m (180-4) that ranks him sixth in Auburn history. Edis Elkasevic, Cory Martin and Eric Werskey also posted regional qualifying marks in the discus, as Elkasevic was fifth with a mark of 53.40m (175-2), Martin was sixth with a throw of 52.98m (173-10) and Werskey was seventh with a mark of 52.79m (173-2).
Martin was the winner in the shot put with a facility record throw of 19.17m (62-10.75) that only two throwers had topped entering the weekend. Werskey was third with a regional qualifying mark of 17.88m (58-8) while Dunkleberger also regionally qualified and placed fourth with a throw of 16.89m (55-5).
Raevan Harris won the jump with a regional qualifying mark of 1.83m (6-0), which she cleared on her third and final attempt. It marked the first time this year, indoors or outdoors, that she reached the six-foot mark.
The women's 4x400m relay team of Danielle Gilchrist, Armbrister, Latoya Parkinson and DeAngela McDougald also finished first with a regional qualifying time of 3:40.04.
Gilchrist also improved her regional qualifying mark in the women's 100m hurdles while finishing third overall and second among collegians with a time of 13.44, topping her previous career best of 13.49.
Katalin Mate eclipsed the regional qualifying mark in two events, placing second overall and first among collegians in the discus with a throw of 48.98m (160-8) and fourth overall and third among collegians in the shot put with a mark of 14.36m (47-1.5).
In the men's 110m hurdles, the nation's top two-ranked athletes were side-by-side, with South Carolina's Jason Richardson edging Auburn's Ty Akins by .02 seconds. Akins' time of 13.47 was just shy of his school-record time of 13.42 set last year while winning the NCAA Championship.
The men's 4x100m relay team of Michael DeHaven, Stephen Fly, Ty Akins and Jerod Wims met the regional qualifying standard for the first time this year, finishing second with a time of 40.59.
Felix Kiboiywo finished second in the men's 1500m with a regional qualifying time of 3:44.65, while Jean-Pierre Weerts was fourth in 3:48.05.
Jhak Keegan just got under the regional qualifying mark in the men's 400m hurdles, finishing in sixth place with a time of 52.50.
Scott Novack was also a first-time regional qualifier, placing second in the men's 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:05.99.
Hollie Knight and Laurel Pritchard finished 1-2 in the women's 3000m, with Knight posting a time of 9:46.05 and Pritchard coming in at 9:49.90.
Valentina Srsa was second in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 53.41m (175-3) and Jerod Wims was fourth overall and third among collegians in the men's 100m with a time of 10.59.
Sabrina Fischer finished fourth in the women's 1500m with a time of 4:38.76, Luke Gaines was fourth in the men's javelin with a throw of 56.40m (185-0) and Luke Robinson tied for fifth in the men's high jump with a leap of 1.92m (6-3.5).
The Tigers will return to action at the Sun Angel Classic hosted by Arizona State next Saturday.