Feb. 11, 2011
AUBURN - Senior Holly Knight recorded her second school record in as many weeks and automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships to highlight Friday's competition for the Auburn track and field teams which were spread across the country at three different meets.
Knight, one of two Tigers competing in at the Flotrack Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., broke a 15-year-old school record in the 5,000 meters, racing to a time of 16:04.86. She finished eighth in the race that included 91 runners spread out over four sections while getting under the automatic qualifying time of 16:07.50.
Knight's time smashed the old school record of 16:11.70 set by Rachel Sauder in 1996. She bettered a 20-year-old school record in the 3,000 meters last weekend and became the third member of the Auburn teams, and the first female, to automatically qualify for the NCAA indoor meet.
"I'm really proud of Holly," said head coach Ralph Spry. "That's why we sent her out there was because we knew that race was going to give her the best chance to succeed. She's been running really well and did a great job."
Also in Washington, junior Ben Cheruiyot finished 16th in his section and 20th overall in the men's 5,000 meters, clocking a time of 13:57.87 that is just off his personal best of 13:54.86 that ranks third best in school indoor history.
Meanwhile at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., Auburn's top performances came in the men's and women's invitational mile races.
In the women's event, senior Stephanie Barnes finished fifth with a time of 4:50.74, improving on her previous personal best of 4:50.98 that ranked eighth in school indoor history.
In the men's mile, freshman Nicklas Buhner finished fifth overall and second among NCAA Division I runners with a time of 4:06.38, missing a spot in Auburn's all-time top 10 by less than a second.
Freshman Keenan Brock performed well at his first performance in a large event, advancing through two rounds in a field of 76 athletes to reach the finals of the men's 60 meters. After opening with a 6.79 in the prelims and improving to 6.74 seconds in the semifinals, Brock placed seventh in the finals with a time of 6.82 seconds.
In the women's 60 meters, seniors Sheniqua Ferguson and Joanna Atkins both reached the semifinals before faltering. Ferguson had a season best 7.31 in the prelims before slipping to 7.47 in the semifinals, while Atkins dropped from a 7.41 to a 7.46.
Finally at the Iowa State Classic, the Tigers' best performance came in the women's 200 meters, where senior Cache Armbrister place third with a time of 24.10 seconds, while junior CeCe Williams was seventh in 24.66 seconds.
Also at Iowa State, senior Allison Smith was fifth in the women's unseeded 5,000 meters in 17:50.29, and freshman Clay Porter was the Tigers' top finisher in the men's 200 meters with a time of 21.91 seconds to place 15th.
"I'm pleased overall," said Spry, who was with the group in Arkansas. "Our milers did a good job and for a freshman to make the finals of the 60 meters out of a group that big is quite an accomplishment. Our women's sprinters didn't look very sharp but I think that's because the weather hasn't been very good for training. I think we'll be getting better weather and that will help.
"We'll try to regroup tomorrow and leave all three meets on a good note. Then we'll have two weeks to get ready for the SEC Championships.
Competition at all three meets will conclude on Saturday.