May 12, 2012
BATON ROUGE, La. - While Auburn has been widely known for its sprints both historically and in 2012, it was the distance and field events where the Tigers were able to rack up points on Saturday at the 2012 SEC Outdoor Championships.
"I'm really pleased with the effort today," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "The biggest thing today was that there were no negative surprises. We needed Harry and Keenan to get through and they did. We needed Kai and Nivea to get through and they did. CeCe ran an outstanding race in the 400 meters. She was the number two qualifier. We snuck some points out of the steeplechase. We weren't on paper scoring there. Stephen and Popenfoose came through in the discus. Maya was jumping really well in the high jump, but just couldn't line it up. Krystal Bodie and Samantha Scarlett are both in the finals in the hurdles.
"I'm pleased that we took advantage of opportunities today. Tomorrow is a big day because everything is a final. We have a chance to really score some points on Sunday now thanks to a lot of the performances on Saturday."
Auburn's throws duo of Marcus Popenfoose and Stephen Saenz came up big in the discus throw. The tandem of sophomores scored 10 points as Popenfoose placed third with a long throw of 175-7 (53.51m) and Saenz was fifth with a mark of 174-9 (53.27m). Popenfoose narrowly missed the title with a throw that cleared 180 feet, but he stepped outside the circle and fouled.
The Tigers were counting on the high jump duo of Maya Pressley and Monica Carney entering the weekend and the pair delivered. Pressley was unable to win a third-consecutive title, but placed third with a high mark of 6-0 (1.83m) as she tied her season high. Carney finished seventh and cleared the bar at 5-9.25 (1.76m) as two Tigers combined for 7.5 points.
V'alonee Robinson cleared 19-11.75 on her second jump of the day, a new PR. The Bahamas native jumped her way into the finals on her third jump with a mark of 20-5.25 feet (6.23m), the sixth-best jump in Auburn history.
Robinson's mark is the longest for Auburn in the women's long jump since 2006 and placed her seventh on Saturday to pick up two points for the Tigers.
The final event of the night also featured a pair of Auburn runners picking up some unexpected points. Entering Saturday, Joby Peake had run the 3000 meter steeplechase only once in 2012 and Niklas Buhner was yet to attempt the event. By the time they left the track on day three of the meet, both had scored points.
Peake placed sixth (9:12.79, new PR) and Buhner was eighth (9:17.06), thanks to a final 100 meter sprint to the finish. The burst by Buhner helped him secure a point and to combined with Peake's three to give Auburn four points it wasn't counting on paper.
In the men's 1500 meters, two Auburn runners will vie for the title. Freshman Kane Grimster, the runner-up at 1500m indoors, earned an automatic berth with his second-place finish in 3:52. Sophomore Buhner (3:50.67) advanced on time, while senior Jeff Sanders (3:57.44) from near-by Mandeville, La. narrowly missed.
With strong performances from elsewhere, Auburn also got its usual production from the sprint races. Kai Selvon and Nivea Smith earned spots in the women's 100 meter finals on Sunday with strong performances in the preliminary round. Selvon had a tough draw in the prelims with LSU's Kimberlyn Duncan, but she held tough and placed second in the heat in 11.34w seconds. Smith was able to advance on time thanks to her preliminary mark of 11.49w seconds.
On the men's side, Harry Adams (10.13w) and Keenan Brock (10.18w) stole the show in the 100 meters. The Auburn duo posted the top two qualifying times and earned automatic bids to the finals on Sunday with heat wins.
Jeremy Hardy was 11th in 10.42w seconds and missed the finals by just .02 seconds. For the second-straight day, Spry opted to rest junior Marcus Rowland. Michael DeHaven was 15th in 10.47w seconds. Both Hardy and DeHaven will team with Adams and Brock in the 4x100m relay on Sunday afternoon.
"This is a fast track and in the SEC the sprints are always stacked," Spry said. "We were fortunate to have a tail wind and that helps you run a little faster. Harry had the fastest qualifier and he actually shut it down. Keenan is the number two seed. They both looked really good. Jeremy Hardy and Michael DeHaven both ran really good, but unfortunately only nine can make the finals. They will both be in the 4x100m relay tomorrow."
Senior CeCe Williams set a new personal-best mark in the 400 meters with her heat one victory in 52.36 on Saturday afternoon. The Birmingham native's mark is the fourth-best in Auburn history and ranks seventh nationally in 2012.
Auburn will also have two women in the finals of the women's hurdles on Sunday. Krystal Bodie (13.50) was second in her heat to earn an automatic berth and freshman Samantha Scarlett advanced on time with her mark of 13.61 seconds.
With one day in the meet remaining, the Auburn men rank 6th with 17 points and the women rank 10th with 15.5 points.
Action at the 2012 SEC Outdoor Championships continues on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT with the men's javelin. ESPN3.com and WatchESPN.com will carry competition live beginning at 3 p.m. CT and continuing through the end of the meet.