Feb. 13, 2009
Joanna Atkins Trackshark Interview
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. - The Auburn track and field program had a strong showing Friday at the opening day of the prestigious Tyson Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas, winning three individual events.
Freshman Marcus Rowland remained undefeated in individual races this season, winning the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.66 seconds, matching his personal best which ranks tied for seventh best in the NCAA this year. He also had the top time in the prelims with a time of 6.67 seconds. Also in the 60-meter dash, senior Jerod Wims was 18th in 6.87 seconds.
Sophomore Joanna Atkins won the women's 400 meters against a field of 64 with a season-best time of 53.22 seconds, which is just shy of her personal best of 52.95 that she set last year. There were only three better times in the NCAA this year entering the weekend.
Junior Felix Kiboiywo won the men's Olympic Developmental mile with a personal-best time of 4:01.42, improving his NCAA provisional qualifying time and moving up to third on Auburn's all-time indoor list. He finished more than four seconds ahead of the closest competitor.
Auburn also had some impressive performances in the invitational events contested Friday night. In the men's 5,000 meters, junior Elkanah Kibet finished sixth in a loaded field in which the American record was broken. Kibet's time of 13:53.05 ranks second in Auburn indoor history and provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Championships with the fifth-best collegiate time in the nation. Freshman Girma Mecheso was 10th in the race in 14:25.89.
Later Friday evening, sophomore Holly Knight finished in sixth place in the women's 3000 meters with a time of 9:35.63. Her time ranks fifth in Auburn indoor history, but was just shy of the time of 9:34 needed to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships.
"We had some very good performances today," said head coach Ralph Spry. "This is a very, very competitive meet, and we really lined up and competed very well today. It was another great outing for Marcus, Joanna was very impressive in just her second 400-meter race, and our distance runners looked good. We're off to a great start and hopefully we can keep it going tomorrow."
In the women's 60-meter dash, junior Shaquela Williams finished third in the consolation final and 11th overall with a personal-best time of 7.46 seconds. Sophomore Cache Armbrister placed sixth in the consolation final in 7.53 seconds. She posted a time of 7.55 in the prelims, but missed qualifying for the finals by .001 seconds. Freshman CeCe Williams was 24th with a time in the prelims of 7.64.
Junior Danielle Gilchrist finished 16th in the women's 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.51 seconds, while sophomore Latoya Parkinson was 26th (8.80).
In the men's 400 meters, sophomore Michael DeHaven was 31st (48.74) and sophomore Bernard Spivey was 36th (48.90). Sophomore Stephen Fly was 37th in the men's 60-meter dash (7.01).
Meanwhile, the Tigers also had two athletes competing at the Iowa State Classic. Junior Valentina Srsa was 23rd in the women's weight throw with a mark of 15.53 meters (50-11.5), and freshman Wesley Wright was 24th in the men's weight throw with a toss of 16.58 meters (54-4.75).
Competition at both the Tyson Invitational and the Iowa State Classic concludes on Saturday.