March 13, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn men's and women's track and field teams took just three athletes apiece to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., but thanks to a strong showing by that group that saw all six earn All-American honors, the women finished the meet in sixth place, while the men tied for 12th.
Sophomore Marcus Rowland and junior Sheniqua Ferguson each earned their second All-American honors of the meet by finishing third and fourth, respectively in the men's and women's 60 meters, while junior Joanna Atkins (women's 400 meters ) and sophomore Ryan Fleck (men's high jump) also earned fourth-place finishes on Saturday.
The sixth-place finish by the women's squad marked the second-best finish in school history by the Auburn women at the NCAA Indoor Championships, behind only the 2007 squad that finished fifth. The men recorded their best finish at the NCAA indoor meet since the 2007 men also took fifth.
In 13 years with Ralph Spry as Auburn head coach, the Tigers have now had nine top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships, while crowning 12 individual national champions and earning 98 All-American honors.
"Coming into the weekend our goal was to leave with six All-Americans, and we accomplished that goal," said Spry. "I'm really pleased with how we finished the indoor season, and I can't say enough about the athletes that we brought to the meet. We just didn't have enough qualifiers to really compete, but that will keep us hungry as we go to the outdoor season."
Rowland earned his fifth career All-American honor by taking third in the 60 meters in 6.61 seconds. Rowland had clocked the field's second-fastest time in Friday's prelims of 6.58, but just missed matching that performance. Still, his third-place finish marked the highest by an Auburn men's sprinter in the 60 meters since Marc Burns placed third in 2004.
Ferguson, who won the national title in the 200 meters on Friday, finished fourth in the 60 meters with a time of 7.23 seconds, missing her personal best by just .01 seconds. She became just the third Auburn woman to earn All-American honors in both short sprints at the NCAA indoor meet, joining Juliet Campell (1992, 1993) and Kerron Stewart (2006, 2007).
Atkins finished fourth in the women's 400 meters, clocking a time of 52.43 seconds, breaking her own indoor school record that she set during Friday's prelims. Atkins, who entered the competition ranked fifth in the field, had set the school record with a time of 52.47 seconds in the prelims. She earned All-American honors in the 400 meters for the third time in her career.
Fleck finished fourth in the men's high jump, equaling his indoor personal best with a mark of 2.22 meters (7-3.25). Fleck, who earned his second career All-American honor, was one of just two jumpers who were perfect through the first four heights, but missed all three attempts at 2.25 meters (7-4.5) to drop out of the competition.
Oregon won the women's team title with 61 points, followed by Tennessee (36), LSU (35), Florida (33), Texas A&M (31) and Auburn (28). Florida won the men's title with 57 points, while Auburn tied with Florida State for 12th place with 16 points.
"We're typically a better outdoor team than indoor, and this gives us a lot of momentum going into the outdoor season," said Spry. "I'm really excited to come out of this meet with a national champion and six All-Americans, and am looking forward to getting the outdoor season started."
The Tigers will take next weekend off before beginning their outdoor season March 26-27 at the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by Georgia Tech.