Feb. 26, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Auburn sprinters Kai Selvon and Harry Adams picked up individual event wins in the men's and women's 60 meters as they helped the men's team to a fifth-place finish and the women's team to a sixth-place finish at the 2012 SEC Indoor Championships.
"Overall, I'm pleased with how we performed as team," Auburn coach Ralph Spry said. "We missed some opportunities, but that's the nature of the sport. You wish everything would go perfect at a meet like this, but in the real world it doesn't happen like that. I'm sure other teams have their issues too. Third, fourth and fifth was a tight battle, and we ended up fifth. I'm happy with what we accomplished and I am looking forward to taking a group with some fire power to nationals."
Kai Selvon picked up Auburn's first event title of the weekend with a blazing new personal-best time of 7.20 seconds to win the women's 60 meters. Her time is the third-fastest in Auburn history, and also reaches the women's automatic qualifying mark for next month's NCAA Indoor Nationals in Boise, Idaho.
Her mark reaches the NCAA automatic qualifying standard is also the top time in the 60 meters in the SEC this year and third-fastest in the nation. Selvon finished third overall on the women's side with 18.2 total points scored.
Selvon wasn't the only Tiger to score in the 60 meters, as teammates third-place Ashley Cruder (7.36 seconds, new PR), fourth-place Alycia Prior (7.38 seconds, new PR) and eighth-place V'alonee Robinson (7.43 seconds, new PR) each contributed to Auburn's 22 points in the event.
"It was really like a clinic," Spry said. "Our women's sprinters and our men's sprinters put on a clinic in the 60 meters. I've always said our measuring stick at SECs is PRs and personal bests. Kai had a big personal best in a very dominating win and she's got a little more room to go. We had three other girls that were third, fourth and eighth. That got us going as a team. That happened early, and the rest of the team fed off that energy."
The win by Selvon marked the fourth time that Auburn has won the women's 60 meters and the first since Kerron Stewart in 2007.
Auburn made it two-for-two with Adams' win in the men's 60 meters as he clocked in at 6.624 seconds by the slimmest of margins over Ole Miss' Michael Granger at 6.625. Adams checked in with 10 points, while teammate Keenan Brock (6.68 seconds) placed fourth and added five points.
"The win in the men's 60 meters was big," Spry said. "Obviously, Harry Adams beating Jeff Demps was big. Demps the night before had just run the fastest time in the nation and taken Harry's top spot in the country. So Harry could have very easily gotten intimidated and settled for second, but he got prepared and got fired up. He made a statement coming back, because two weeks from now we've got NCAA championships and those will probably be the top two guys in the nation fighting for first and second. I was pleased with how Harry performed."
Spry was also happy with the performance of Brock in the 60 meters.
"I was very pleased with Keenan Brock because he's already got his qualifying time for nationals," Spry said. "He's the kind of guy that is right on the brink of hitting the big one. He's capable of running 6.59-6.60. If he can do that and if he peaks at the right time in two weeks, he will be right there as one of the top guys in the country too."
Adams' win in the 60 meters is the first for the Tigers since teammate Marcus Rowland won the championship in 2010 and the second overall for the program. Auburn's double in the men's and women's 60 meters marked the first time that teammates won the two events since LSU won both in 2009.
Stephen Saenz continued his impressive season with a second-place finish in the men's shot put. The sophomore recorded a top throw of 63 feet, two inches (19.25m) to place second behind Florida's Kemal Mesic (65 feet, 3.25 inches).
"Stephen has been really consistent," Spry said. "At this level, some guys put up really big marks, then never get there again. What is going to get Stephen to the national level every year is his consistency. He really understands how to compete at this level. I feel really good about Stephen Saenz. He's going to be a force to be reckoned with for the remainder of this year and the next two years."
The runner-up finish improves upon Saenz's third-place finish a season ago. He was the 2011 SEC Outdoor Shot Put champion.
Selvon (23.15 seconds, second place) and Nivea Smith (23.52 seconds, third place) scored big for Auburn in the 200 meter finals. Selvon's time re-set her career-best mark from Saturday and gives her the sixth-best time in Auburn history. Brock (21.21 sec) and Marcus Rowland (21.26 sec) added fifth and sixth-place finishes in the men's 200 meters, respectively. The male duo secured seven combined points for their efforts.
Monica Carney set a new PR and finished fourth in the women's high jump with her clearance at five feet, 11.5 inches (1.82m). Teammate Maya Pressley also scored with an eighth-place finish at five feet, 9.25 inches (1.76m). Carney's mark ties her with Pressley and Magon Moncreiffe for the fourth-best performance in Auburn history.
"I'm really, really happy about how Monica performed," Spry said. "She's overcome some adversity. A couple of years ago, she struggled a little bit with her priorities and getting focused. She's turned it around and she put herself in a situation to work hard. This year she's been so consistent and been very, very serious about her event and it showed. I knew coming in she was going to jump well because she's been so good all year. This was one of the toughest SEC high jumps in a long time. Normally, the mark she jumped will win it a lot of times. I'm really happy for her for a couple of reasons. First, her hard work paid off and she got to see it. Secondly, she's going to get to go to the national championships for the first time. I think she can go six feet, and if she does that at nationals, she will be an All-American."
Freshman Kane Grimster was runner-up in the men's mile with a time of 4:12.48 as he picked up eight points for the Tigers. Senior Jeff Sanders (4:14.72, sixth place) and sophomore Niklas Buhner (4:15.87, eighth place) also added to the scoring effort.
"Kane definitely earned his scholarship today," Spry said. "He ran two one-mile races in the 3,000 meters and the DMR. He ran 4-5 races this weekend and all of them were challenging and hotly-contested. He showed a lot of poise this weekend. If you come into a meet like this and can line up as a freshman and be SEC runner up and do the things he's done, then I think you are something special. He's got something you can't teach. I think the future is going to be very bright for that young man. He's a warrior. He's a competitor. I think you saw that today."
Grimster finished sixth overall on the men's side with 13.2 total points scored, the highest ranked freshman in the meet.
CeCe Williams picked up two points for the women's team with a seventh-place finish in the 400 meters. Her time of 53.42 seconds is her second-fast mark this season. Alissa Fisher finished sixth in her first collegiate 5k and scored three points for Auburn. Her time of 16:38.46 is the fifth-fastest mark in Auburn history.
Auburn added three points on the men's side with a seventh-place finish in the 4x400 meter relay and an eighth-place finish in the DMR. On the women's side, the Tigers picked up a pair of points with eighth place finishes in both the 4x400 meter relay and DMR.
Auburn athletes set a total of seven new personal bests on Sunday to bring the weekend total to 24. Fifth place is the highest finish for the Auburn men since tying for fourth place in 2009.
For the latest on Auburn track and field, follow @AUTrack on Twitter.