Feb. 12, 2011
AUBURN - Auburn's field event athletes took center stage Saturday with four personal bests and top-10 school marks as the Tiger track and field teams wrapped up competition at a pair of meets.
Auburn's top field event athletes competed along with a handful of other Tigers at the Iowa State Classic, while the sprinters headlined those in action at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. It marked the last weekend of competition for the Tigers prior to the SEC Indoor Championships.
"Our teams looked pretty solid on both sides today," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We're still not quite as sharp as I'd like. We had some really good performances but still have a few people that are a little off of where I'd like them to be. Hopefully we'll get good weather the next couple of weeks to help us get ready for the SEC meet."
At Iowa State, redshirt freshman Stephen Saenz and senior Eric Werskey continued their see-saw battle near the top of the national leaderboard in the shot put, with Saenz having the edge this week. The pair entered the weekend with Werskey ranked fourth nationally and Saenz fifth, after Werskey moved one centimeter ahead of Saenz (19.41 meters to 19.40) last weekend.
Both throwers surpassed their personal bests again on Saturday, with Saenz moving to 19.51 meters (64-0.25) and Werskey right behind at 19.48 meters (63-11), finishing first and second for the fourth straight meet. Saenz's effort moved him into a tie for third on the national leaderboard and back to second on Auburn's all-time indoor list.
In addition, in the non-seeded portion of the shot put, freshman Marcus Popenfoose was third with a personal best of 16.63 meters (54-6.75).
"Our throwers really stepped up again today," said Spry. "They've been consistent all year long and that was a heck of a way for them to head into the SECs."
Freshman DJ Smith and sophomore Maya Pressley both improved their national standing in the high jump, with Smith finishing second in the men's competition and Pressley placing third overall and second among collegians in the women's.
Smith increased his indoor season best to 2.16 meters (7-1), which is tied for fifth in Auburn indoor history. Pressley also had an indoor personal best, jumping 1.82 meters (5-11.5), which is tied for fourth in school history and had been topped by just six women in the NCAA entering the weekend.
Also at Iowa State, junior Ashley Cruder and senior Cache Armbrister reached the finals of the women's 60 meters, where they finished fourth (7.57) and eighth (7.64), respectively. In the prelims, Cruder clocked a 7.61 and Armbrister finished in 7.65 seconds.
In the non-seeded men's pole vault, freshman Nick Farrell finished seventh with a mark of 4.80 meters (15-9).
The top performances at Arkansas came in the women's 200 meters, where junior Nivea Smith and senior Sheniqua Ferguson finished sixth and eighth, respectively. Smith clocked a time of 23.49 seconds, with Ferguson just behind at 23.53. Senior Joanna Atkins was 16th in 23.80.
Freshman Keenan Brock placed 15th in the men's 200 meters with a time of 21.35 seconds, just missing a spot in Auburn's all-time indoor top 10 by three one-hundredths of a second.
Senior Erica Akins was 15th in the women's triple jump with a season-best mark of 11.58 meters (38-0).
The Tigers will take next weekend off before competing at the SEC Indoor Championships Feb. 25-27 in Fayetteville, Ark.