June 12, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Auburn freshman Ryan Fleck finished second in the men's high jump and the men's 4x100-meter relay team finished seventh to highlight the third of four days of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Fleck, the only freshman in the field of 14 finalists, entered the meet ranked 14th nationally, but ended the night with the best finish ever for an Auburn high jumper, male or female, at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He was perfect through the first five bars, and had already set a new personal best of 2.23 meters (7-3.75) before he finally had his first miss.
Fleck eclipsed his college best and tied his personal best on the fourth bar, clearing 2.20 meters (7-2.5), before his successful jump at 2.23 meters. He finally missed twice at 2.26 meters (7-5), then passed on his last attempt to try 2.29 meters (7-6), where he just missed to bow out of the competition.
"I couldn't ask for much better," said Fleck. "Coach (Scott Richardson) had me prepared, and it ended up working out for me pretty well. I just believe that what place I finish isn't the biggest deal, but if I can make myself better and improve each year, then the places will come, and if they don't but I get better every year I'll be happy with that."
Fleck, who grabbed his first career All-American honor, now ranks tied for third in Auburn history with his clearance of 7-3.75.
In the men's 4x100-meter relay final, Auburn raced to a time of 39.35 seconds to place seventh. The team of sophomore Stephen Fly, senior Jerod Wims, sophomore Michael DeHaven and freshman Marcus Rowland finished just .04 seconds off their season-best time of 39.31 seconds set during the semifinals, which is tied for the fourth-best mark in school history.
"We were really loose when we were warming up," said DeHaven. "We felt good about the whole process. We felt we could have run a little bit faster if we were a little crisper, but you can never turn down an All-American award, especially when you have a senior on your team."
Fly and Wims earned the first USTFCCCA All-American honors by virtue of the seventh-place finish, while Rowland and DeHaven grabbed their second honors.
Auburn's final competitor on Friday night was junior Jean-Pierre Weerts, who finished 14th in the finals of the men's 5000 meters with a time of 14:22.98. It was still a solid race for Weerts, who entered the meet ranked 24th nationally.
Also on Friday night, sophomore Joanna Atkins reached the finals of the women's 400 meters, finishing sixth in the prelims with a time of 52.51 seconds. Atkins, who clocked a time of 52.23 in the prelims, will be in lane eight during Saturday's final, which takes place at 12:05 p.m. CT.
"We had a slow start the first couple of days but today was a really good day," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We had a big-time performance from Fleck, our 4x100 team ran well and Joanna and Jean-Pierre did a great job. All in all everything went well today. It was a good showing, and we have three more shots tomorrow to score points and bring home some more All-American honors."
With 13 of 21 events completed, the Auburn men's team is in 13th place with 12 points. The Tiger women's team has not yet scored.
Saturday's final day of action will include Atkins in the finals of the 400 meters, sophomore Cache Armbrister in the finals of the women's 200 meters at 12:35 p.m. CT and Rowland in the finals of the men's 200 meters at 12:42 p.m.
CBS will have live coverage of Saturday's competition from 12-2 p.m. CT.