March 11, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Three members of the Auburn men's and women's track and field teams earned First Team All-American honors as the Tigers opened competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships Friday. Auburn's men are tied for sixth place with 11 points and the women are tied for 37th place with one point following the first of two days of competition.
"We didn't have a big group coming in, and I knew that to do well here everyone would have to step up," said head coach Ralph Spry. "We had a rough start with a false start that let a lot of air out of our tires, but our field event athletes came up big and gave us something positive to take back. Our shot putters really stepped up big, and those 11 points will give us a chance to finish in the top 20, and that's huge."
All 11 of Auburn's points in the men's standings came in the shot put, as senior Eric Werskey finished third and redshirt freshman Stephen Saenz placed fourth. Werskey entered the meet ranked seventh, but had two personal bests during the course of the competition to record his best finish at an NCAA Championship meet. After recording a new best with a throw of 19.57 meters (64-2.5) on his third attempt, his fourth attempt went 19.64 meters (64-5.25), coming up just two inches shy of the school record.
It marked the final collegiate competition for Werskey, who only had eligibility during the indoor season for 2011, and he will leave Auburn as a three-time All-American.
"Coming in if I didn't win I wanted to finish in the top three," said Werskey. "I wanted to stick to the same routine that I've been doing. I had a really good conference meet, and wanted to continue with my same rhythm and end on a really good note at Auburn.
"My first two throws were a little shaky. I had some problems coming out of the back, but I was able to fix those and found my rhythm again, and had a good day."
Saenz entered the competition ranked sixth in the field, and stood in fifth place entering his final throw. After what looked like his best effort of the evening was called a foul, the Auburn coaches filed a protest, and a video review determined that the throw was indeed legal. The result was a mark of 19.32 meters (63-4.75) that moved him up one spot to fourth in his first NCAA Championship appearance.
"I felt pretty good," said Saenz. "Before the meet I was pretty nervous, but after the first throw I calmed down and started executing what I had to do in the ring.
"I knew I didn't foul (on the final throw) and when he raised the red flag I was wondering if you could protest. I knew it wasn't a foul or I wouldn't have gotten that excited about the throw."
Auburn's lone point scorer on the women's side was sophomore Maya Pressley, who placed eighth in the high jump. Pressley entered the competition ranked tied for 10th with a season best mark of 1.82 meters (5-11.5), and nearly matched that mark Friday, clearing 1.81 meters (5-11.25). She was perfect on her first two bars, then missed just once on each of the next two heights to become one of just 10 competitors left. She bowed out at 1.84 meters (6-0.5) but earned eighth place over two others who also dropped out at that height based on fewer misses.
It marked the first All-American honor for Pressley, who competed at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman but did not score at that meet.
"I feel pretty good," said Pressley. "I went out with the mindset to PR and perform better than I did. It's coming slowly and I'm not satisfied, but I'm happy with my performance.
"It was a young field, but a tough field. From my experience last year at Oregon I learned how to adjust and that rankings don't matter."
Auburn had four other athletes compete Friday that did not fare as well. The Tigers had the top two finishers in the women's 200 meters last year, but neither Tiger made it to the final this year. Junior Nivea Smith came close, finishing 10th in the prelims with a season-best time of 23.21, which was just .04 seconds behind the eighth and final qualifier for the finals. Senior Sheniqua Ferguson, the defending national champion in that event, placed 13th in 23.50 seconds.
Ferguson also competed in the prelims of the 60 meters, where she finished sixth in her heat and 17th overall with a time of 7.38 seconds.
Senior Holly Knight ran in the women's 5,000 meters Friday night, finishing in 12th place with a time of 16:22.14. Knight, who earned All-American honors in the 5,000 meters at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships, will garner second-team All-American honors for her performance Friday.
"On the women's side we had some quality athletes that we thought could make the finals, but it just didn't happen," said Spry. "It's a tough meet, and we have to lick our wounds now and get ready for the outdoor season. Maya did a nice job in the high jump but we had no other help and missed some opportunities."
Sophomore Harry Adams had a disappointing conclusion to his meet when he was charged with a false start in the prelims of the men's 60 meters, disqualifying him from the competition.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will conclude on Saturday. The Tigers will then take the following weekend off before opening the outdoor season March 26 at the SEC-Big 10 Challenge in Starkville, Miss.