May 18, 2008
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AUBURN, Ala. - Felix Kiboiywo, Amelia Anderson and Cory Martin all won individual titles for Auburn as the men finished fifth and the women seventh during the final day of the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hutsell-Rosen Track.
Martin capped another outstanding meet with a victory in the shot put, as he scored 28 points in the meet for the second straight year, and this year that was enough to earn him the Commissioner's Trophy as the high men's point scorer in the meet. Martin won the shot put Sunday a throw of 20.31m (66-7.75), which ranks second in the NCAA this year and third in school history.
Martin won the hammer throw Friday and placed second in the discus Saturday, and will finish his career with seven SEC titles.
"I think I did great," said Martin. "A lifetime PR and winning the SEC championship in an event is always saying something. It's cool. I won it last year and I wanted to come in here and defend my title. I came in here and I did it and that's just the way of the game."
The Tigers took the top two spots in the women's 400m hurdles, as Anderson won her first SEC title with a personal-best time of 57.15, charging from behind to overtake teammate Danielle Gilchrist, who was second in with a personal-best time of her own of 57.30. Anderson's time ranks third in Auburn history, while Gilchrist's ranks fifth.
"I feel great," said Anderson. "It's awesome to go one and two with my teammate. That is all we have been talking about all week, finishing together, and it feels great to go out there and get it done."
Anderson was also ninth in the women's triple jump earlier in the day with a personal-best mark of 12.31m (40-4.75), which ranks 10th in school history.
Kiboiywo won the men's 1500m with a time of 3:45.81. He stood in fifth place with 300 meters remaining when he made his move, sprinting past the lead group to open a 10-meter lead on the final turn, and held on down the stretch to win.
It marked the first time an Auburn runner won the men's 1500m at the SEC Championships. Prior to the conversion to metric distances, the last Tiger to win the mile was Brian Jaeger in 1988.
"It went really well," said Kiboiywo. "I was well-rested and ready to run. After yesterday, I wasn't too happy with my race. I felt good in the beginning of the race, but the other runners started to pick up the pace and I had to do something to keep up. I had a really good kick at the end and I was able to pull out the win."
Kiboiywo came back to finish sixth in the men's 5000m later in the evening with a time of 13:55.55, while Jean-Pierre Weerts came in eighth in 14:04.32.
Ty Akins was not able to defend his title in the men's 110m hurdles, but not for a lack of effort. Akins blazed to a time of 13.30, which would have broken his own school record of 13.42 that he set while winning the NCAA title last year if not for a 2.4-meter-per-second tailwind, but finished second to NCAA leader Jason Richardson of South Carolina.
Likewise in the 400m hurdles, Reuben McCoy finished third, but shattered his personal-best time with a mark of 48.86. His previous best entering the contest was 49.22 as he moved up to a tie for fourth in school history with his new mark and met the Olympic "B" qualifying standard.
Hollie Knight, two nights after finishing fourth in the women's 10,000m, placed third in the 5,000m Sunday with a personal-best time of 16:24.92, breaking her own freshman record.
Katalin Mate finished fourth for Auburn in the women's discus, posting a mark of 48.82m (160-2). It marked the third straight year she has finished fourth in the discus at the SEC meet.
Freshman Cache Armbrister finished fifth in the women's 200m, racing to a time of 23.21, which ranks fourth in school history.
Armbrister and Anderson teamed with Shaquela Williams and Joanna Atkins to finished fifth in the 4x100m relay with a time of 44.60, while Anderson, Armbrister and Atkins joined Gilchrist to place seventh in the 4x400m relay in 3:39.98.
Luke Robinson was the final person to score for Auburn, finishing in a five-way tie for eighth in the men's high jump with a season-best leap of 2.00m (6-6.75). The five tied jumpers each split the final point in the event, accounting for 0.2 points per jumper.
"I thought we fought hard," said head coach Ralph Spry. "I'm proud of how we lined up and competed. It's a tough league. Our throwers really stepped it up and gave us a chance to be in contention. I'm proud of how we lined up on both sides - our men and women - and that's just what we needed as we head to the regional championships, because it just gets tougher from here on out. Our objective from here is to take our key people from the SECs and get through the regionals to the nationals. All of our key people are primed and ready to go."
Among the others competing for Auburn who just missed scoring, Eric Werskey reached the finals of the shot put but finished ninth with a mark of 17.63m (57-10.25).
In the men's javelin, Luke Gaines missed reaching the finals by just one spot, finishing 10th with a mark of 61.72m (202-6), setting a personal best by four inches. In the women's 1500m, Sabrina Fischer finished 12th in 4:44.02.
Arkansas won the men's team title with 131.5 points, nipping LSU which finished with 122 points. Tennessee was third with 97.5 points, followed by Florida (80), Auburn (78.2), Kentucky (72), South Carolina (57), Mississippi State (56.2), Alabama (46.2), Georgia (43.4) and Ole Miss (35).
LSU defending the women's title with 157.5 points, pulling away from Florida with 129. Arkansas was third with 88.5, followed by Tennessee (85), Kentucky (84.5), Ole Miss (73), Auburn (66), South Carolina (34.5), Alabama (34), Georgia (32), Mississippi State (28) and Vanderbilt (7).
Auburn will take next weekend off prior to competing at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships May 30-31 in Fayetteville, Ark.