Feb. 14, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. - The Auburn men's and women's track and field team completed a stellar meet at the Tyson Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas, winning four more events and recording one automatic and five provisional NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday. Freshman Marcus Rowland won his second event of the meet, taking the men's 200-meter title, while senior Raeven Harris won the high jump, sophomore Amber Riley won the 3,000 meters and the women's 4x400-meter relay team was victorious.
The Tigers also had a provisional qualifier at the Iowa State Classic, where Eric Werskey finished second in the shot put.
"We had a good meet, and everybody was pretty solid," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We've now got most of our key people qualified for the NCAA Championships, although there are a few more we want to get. This is a big-time meet with big-time competition, and we performed well. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into the SEC Championships. We've got a young group but they are showing they can compete at this level."
Rowland remained undefeated in individual events this year, racing to a time of 20.92 to win the 200 crown. His time ranks fourth best in the NCAA this year and was just .01 seconds away from the second-best mark in Auburn indoor history. He won the 60 meters on Friday. Sophomore Michael DeHaven was 14th in the 200 with a time of 21.54.
Harris also remained undefeated this season in the high jump, winning for the fourth time in four competitions with a leap of 1.87 meters (6-1.5), which is an automatic NCAA qualifying mark, although it did not quite match her school-record jump of 6-2.25, which ranks third in the NCAA.
Riley won the women's 3,000 meter championship event with a time of 9:40.80, just missing her season best. Junior Sabrina Fischer was seventh in 10:00.47.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team, which is ranked second in the nation, won with a time of 3:37.75, missing their season-best mark by less than four tenths of a second. Freshman CeCe Williams led off, followed by sophomore Joanna Atkins, junior Danielle Gilchrist and sophomore Cache Armbrister.
Junior Elkanah Kibet finished second in the men's championship 3,000 meters, but first among collegiate competitors, with a time of 8:00.97. His NCAA provisional mark ranks 10th best in the NCAA this year and improved him to fourth in school indoor history. Junior Felix Kiboiywo was fifth in 8:05.59, which ranks eighth in Auburn history but just missed the NCAA provisional mark.
Armbrister clocked an NCAA provisional time in the women's 200 meters, finishing sixth in 23.79 seconds, while CeCe Williams was 10th in 24.10. Freshman Nivea Smith posted what would have been the winning time of 23.49 seconds, but was disqualified for a lane violation.
Freshman Ryan Fleck was Auburn's final provisional qualifier at the Tyson Invitational, tying for sixth in the high jump with a mark of 2.14 meters (7-0.25). His mark ranks him tied for sixth in Auburn indoor history.
Auburn's other NCAA provisional qualifier on Saturday came at Iowa State, where Werskey improved on his provisional mark with a personal-best mark of 19.18 meters (62-11.25), which ranks fourth in the NCAA this season and second in Auburn indoor history. Freshman Wesley Wright was 19th with a mark of 16.00 meters (52-6).
Back in Arkansas in the men's championships 5,000 meters, junior Scott Novack was third with a time of 14:15.16, and junior Jean-Pierre Weerts finished sixth in 14:42.54.
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Bernard Spivey, sophomore Michael DeHaven, redshirt freshman Nick Green and Rowland was sixth in 3:13.03, and Gilchrist placed eighth in the 60-meter consolation finals in 8.60 seconds.
In non-championship finals, sophomore Erika Akins was fifth in the triple jump (39-3), sophomore Allison Smith was eighth in the women's 3,000 meters (10:24.34) and freshman Jeff Sanders placed 14th in the men's 3,000 meters (8:33.86).
The Tigers will take next weekend off before competing at the SEC Indoor Championships Feb. 27-March 1 in Lexington, Ky.