May 15, 2011
ATHENS, Ga. - The Auburn men's track team placed fifth and the women finished sixth at the 2011 Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Spec Towns Track in Athens, Ga. Junior distance runner Ben Cheruiyot claimed the men's 5,000 meter title, while senior Joanna Atkins won gold in the women's 400 meters, giving the Tigers five conference crowns during the meet.
"We had a very competitive weekend, and obviously we would have liked to finish a little higher," head coach Ralph Spry said. "With the way we competed, I think we are going in the right direction with this young team. We just have to keep moving forward, get everyone healthy and line them up where we need them. I'm proud of the five champions we had. All in all, I feel pretty good about what we did this weekend. It's always a battle out there, and there are never any easy points so I feel pretty good about what we did."
The men, which scored 69 points, finished behind Arkansas (156.50), Florida (139), Georgia (98) and LSU (88). The women finished with 66 points, trailing to LSU (146), Florida (116), Arkansas (107), Georgia (94) and Tennessee (92).
The day started on a positive note for the Auburn women in the first race as the two-time defending champions placed third in the 4x100-meter relay in 44.34 seconds. The team consisted of freshman V'Alonee Robinson, Atkins, sophomore Kai Selvon and junior Nivea Smith.
Atkins was Auburn's lone female winner on Sunday, claiming her second-consecutive 400 meters title. She had a season-best time of 51.83 seconds. Williams placed seventh in the event with a time of 53.83.
In the women's 100 meters, Smith clocked a time of 11.27 seconds, placing fifth in the finals.
Just an hour later, Smith had another successful race and placed third in the women's 200 meters with a time of 22.44 seconds. Selvon also competed in the event and placed sixth clocking a time of 23.32.
Junior Holly Knight, two nights after placing fourth in the women's 10,000 meters, had another fourth-place finish coming in the women's 5,000 meters cruising to a time of 16:35.02. Senior Stephanie Barnes also competed in the event and placed 16th clocking a 17:18.27.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team wrapped up the day for the women, earning eight points for Auburn with a second-place finish. The team of Atkins, senior Cache Armbrister, Williams and Selvon posted a season-best time of 3:32.93.
Cheruiyot won his second SEC title of the meet, taking the title in the 5,000 meters in 13:59.25 after winning the 10,000 meters on Friday. It is the second-consecutive year that he has won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. The last time that feat had been accomplished was in 2007 by Ole Miss' Barnabas Kirui.
"The race was tough for me compared to last year," Cheruiyot said. "This year I thought the field was stronger than last year. I knew if I didn't win this after winning the 10k, it wouldn't feel good. I just wanted to come and prove that I was ready to run it."
Niklas Buhner recorded the fifth-best time in the men's 1500 meters clocking a time of 3:51.07 to earn four points for the Tigers.
Freshman Keenan Brock and sophomore Harry Adams placed sixth and seventh, respectively in an extremely fast men's 100 meters race. Brock clocked a time of 10.19 seconds which ranks fifth in school history, while Adams was right behind in 10.20 seconds and recorded a school record that ranks sixth.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of senior Stephen Fly, junior Neil Danville, freshman Clay Porter and freshman Keenan Brock finished sixth with a time of 40.59.
Redshirt freshman Stephen Saenz, who placed first in the shot put on Saturday, finished second in the discus throw during the final day of the meet. Saenz had a mark of 55.92 meters (183-5), which came on his second of six throws. Freshman Marcus Popenfoose placed second in the event with a throw of 54.84 meters (179-11).
Freshman DJ Smith placed third in his first SEC Championship high jump with a mark of 2.18 meters (7-1.75).
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Porter, freshman Kelly Cutrell, Danville and junior Nick Green placed 11th in the final event of the day with a time of 3:14.08.
Auburn will be off next weekend before competing at the NCAA Preliminary Round May 26-28 in Bloomington, Ind.
Auburn's 2011 SEC Outdoor Champions Women High Jump - Maya Pressley 400m - Nivea Smith
Men Shot Put- Stephen Saenz 5,000m, 10,000m - Ben Cheruiyot