Feb. 6, 2010
AUBURN - The Auburn men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up competition at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup hosted by Penn State Saturday, winning seven events and posting seven more NCAA provisional qualifying marks. The Tigers ended the two-day multi-team meet winning nine events and recording 12 NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
"Right now everything is going to plan," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We were able to follow through today with where we left off after day one, and I'm excited about how we're competing as a team. We just need to keep this momentum going next weekend in our last competition before the SEC championships."
Of Auburn's seven victories Saturday, junior Joanna Atkins' victory in the women's 400 meters may have been the most impressive. Atkins was running her first 400-meter race for Auburn since winning the 2009 NCAA outdoor championship, and posted a winning time of 52.79 seconds that is tied for third best in the NCAA this year. It marked the second time during her indoor career that she went below 53 seconds, and she is one of just two Tigers to go under that mark. She is now qualified for the NCAA championships in three events, having previously qualified in the 60 and the 200 meters.
Another impressive performance came in the men's high jump, where sophomore Ryan Fleck's won with a height of 2.21 meters (7-3) that ranks second in school history behind only former World Champion Donald Thomas, and is fourth best in the NCAA this year. Fleck's clearance of 7-3, which came on his first attempt, was just three-quarters of an inch shy of the mark that earned him second place at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Auburn took the top two spots in both the men's and women's 200 meters. In the men's race, sophomore Marcus Rowland won with a new meet record of 20.93 seconds, missing his indoor personal best by just .01 seconds. His time ranks fourth in the NCAA this year, putting him in the top four in two events, as he leads the nation in the 60 meters. Junior Michael DeHaven took second in 21.49 seconds.
In the women's 200 meters, junior Sheniqua Ferguson sped to a provisional qualifying time of 23.66 seconds that ranks fifth in Auburn indoor history and sixth in the NCAA this year. Sophomore Nivea Smith was close behind, finishing second in 23.76 seconds, moving up to ninth in the NCAA while improving her season best by .03 seconds. In addition, Cache Armbrister was sixth with a time of 24.48.
In the women's triple jump, Amelia Anderson met the NCAA provisional standard in her second event in two days, winning with a personal-best mark of 12.70 meters (41-8). Her jump ranks her eighth in school indoor history and is tied for 15th in the NCAA this year.
Junior Ben Cheruiyot won the men's 3,000 meters, clocking a time of 8:11.60. Also for Auburn, senior Scott Novack was seventh in 8:24.39 and sophomore Jeff Sanders finished eighth in 8:26.74.
Auburn's final victory came from freshman Maya Pressley, who won the women's high jump with a mark of 1.75 meters (5-8.75), which was just one centimeter shy of her season best.
The final provisional qualifying time for the Tigers came in the women's 4x400-meter relay. The team of sophomore CeCe Williams, Armbrister, junior Latoya Parkinson and Atkins finished second with a time of 3:39.85 that just missed improving on their previous season best.
Other highlights for Auburn included junior Holly Knight taking third in the women's 3,000 meters in 9:43.94, CeCe Williams finishing fifth in the women's 400 meters in 55.12 seconds, and junior Gerard Brown placing seventh in the men's triple jump with a leap of 14.24 meters (46-8.75).
"Everybody is clicking and we just have to take care of the things that we can take care of, and stay healthy," said Spry. "If we can do that and we can get better again next weekend, I feel good about lining up two good teams at the conference meet."
Auburn will resume its indoor schedule next weekend when the Tigers send athletes to both the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic.