March 11, 2016
NCAA Indoor Day 1 Results | NCAA Indoor Day 2 Heat Sheet
Birmingham, Ala. - Auburn true freshman Michelle Atherley broke a school record in the pentathlon, earning second-team All-America honors on Day 1 of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Atherley's score of 4153 points surpassed her own school record mark of 4148 set two weeks ago at SEC Indoors. Senior Samantha Scarlett also earned second-team All-America accolades after posting a PR and finishing 10th in the 60m hurdles.
The lone freshman competing in the pentathlon, Athlerley got off to a strong start, setting PRs in two of her first three events to sit in sixth place overall. After running an 8.42 in the 60m hurdles, she set personal bests in the high jump (1.77m/5-9.75) and shot put (12.11m/39-8.75).
"As a true freshman, for Michelle to get to this meet was a great accomplishment," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "She set a school record for the second meet in a row, which is impressive. She really competed well. Michelle will definitely score points in this meet down the road."
Despite a solid jump of 5.44m/17-10.25 in the long jump, the North Point, Fla., native dropped to 10th and gutted out a 2:19.81 in the 800m, the final event of the meet.
Running in the fastest prelims recorded ever in the 60m hurdles at the indoor championships, Scarlett's personal-best 8.12 would have been good enough to final in each of the previous 17 years the event was contested. Finishing seventh in her heat, 8.10 was the cut-off to make finals. It marked the second consecutive year that the Kingston, Jamaica, native finished 10th at indoor nationals in the event.
"I'm very proud of the way that Sam competed," Spry said. "It's tough for her finishing just outside of finals again, despite setting a personal best. In a meet like this, that's the measuring stick. If you line up and set a PR against on this stage against this type of competition, that's all you can ask for."
Competing during Saturday's final day will be Shawn Johnson in the men's triple jump, Jessie Johnson in the women's pole vault and Marshay Ryan in the women's triple jump.
"I thought we had a good day, unfortunately the top eight final and score and we finished just outside that in both events," Spry said. "We've got some opportunities to score points tomorrow with Shawn, Jessie and Marshay. If they compete tomorrow the way that Michelle and Samatha did today, we'll be pleased."
Entering the meet, Shawn Johnson currently is ranked fifth in the country, Jessie Johnson is sixth nationally and Ryan is 10th in their respective events.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on Saturday at 3:55 p.m. CT. A re-air of the championship will take place on Sunday, March 13 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and Wednesday, March 23 at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.