Joanna Atkins Finishes 2nd in 400M at NCAA Outdoors

June 10, 2011

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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Auburn senior Joanna Atkins earned her second outdoor all-America honors of her career, by finishing in second place in the women's 400 meters with a season's best time of 51.50, at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Jim Duncan Track on the Drake campus. Earlier in the day, Atkins helped lead the Tigers' 4x400 relay team to the second fastest time of the day to qualify for Saturday's finals in the event.

Atkins, who won the NCAA title at 400 meters in 2009, led for the first 300 before being passed on the fourth turn by Texas A&M's Jessica Beard. Atkins battled to stay with Beard over the next 80 meters but was outlasted down the stretch.

"I felt pretty good about the race," Atkins said. "I came out hard, relaxed and had myself in good position. The biggest mistake I made was that I tightened up down the home stretch and could feel my turnovers getting shorter, and she passed me."

The women, behind Atkins finish in the 400, have eight points and are in tied for 24th place, while the men have yet to score as a team.

"Joanna had a chance to win in the 400 and ran a really good race, a gutsy race," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "She was huge for us today anchoring our 4x400 relay earlier and then coming back and getting eight points for the team. The relay ran a great race after being delayed from last night. They have a chance to do well Saturday with the No. 2 seed."

The quartet of CeCe Williams, Kai Selvon, Cache Armbrister and Atkins clocked a 3:30.62 in the 4x400, which was a season's best and third fastest in school history. The Tigers placed second in the heat to Texas A&M which had the fastest overall time.

On the men's side, the Tigers had a trio of freshmen field athletes competing in their first-ever NCAA Outdoor Championships.

For the second consecutive day, a weather delay interrupted the meet as it was stopped for 65 minutes in the middle of the men's shot put and high jump events.

Freshmen Stephen Saenz and Marcus Popenfoose, finished 10th and 16th, respectively in the men's shot put. Saenz who missed the finals by less than an inch, posted his best of three throws with his first attempt, recording a toss of 60-8.50. Popenfoose notched his best throw on his third and final attempt with a 57-3.50.

Freshman high jumper D.J. Smith finished 11th after clearing 7-0.25 (2.14m). The SEC Champion in the event, Smith successfully cleared his first two heights before missing and then hitting at 7-0.25. Smith came up short however at his next level, missing all three attempts at 7-1.50.

"We had some guys compete hard today, but just missed qualifying for finals," Spry said. "It's tough competing at this meet as a freshman, and just being here is quite an accomplishment. I'm proud the way they lined up and it will be a great experience for them heading into next year."

Texas Tech leads the men's team competition with 32 points followed by Virginia Tech and Florida and Florida State, which are tied for third. On the women's side, Oklahoma leads with 28 points. Texas A&M is second and Oregon third.

Saturday's final day of competition will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the women's shot put. Running events will begin at 12 p.m. with the 4x100 meter relay.

Auburn's day will begin at 12:41 p.m. as Nivea Smith will be competing in the women's 200 finals. Distance runner Ben Cheruiyot will run in the men's 5,000 at 1:21 p.m., with the women's 4x400 relay finishing the Tigers' efforts at the meet at 1:40 p.m.

The final day will be televised live by CBS Sports.