Alabama's Walker Wins NCAA Track and Field Region Title
5/31/2004 12:00:00 AM
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University of Alabama’s sophomore track ace Beau Walker won the 400-meter hurdles and second in the 100m hurdles at the NCAA Mideast Region Championships held in Baton Rouge this weekend.
Walker ran away with the 400m hurdles title by three-quarters of a second, posting a 56.50. In addition to earning her second place, Walker’s 12.96 in the 100m hurdles was a career best and bettered her own school record of 12.99 set at the SEC Championships.
The Crimson Tide took sixth place in the team race after scoring 35 points. It is a five place jump from last season. Walker’s pair of top-5 finishes earned her automatic berths to the NCAA Championships to be held June 9-12 in Austin, Texas.
Walker joins sophomore All-American Beth Mallory who’s third place finish in the hammer throw on Friday earned her an automatic bid.
Sophomore Aymara Albury could earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships after taking sixth in the shot put with a throw of 52 feet and five and half inches in Baton Rouge. Junior LaTasha Pharr took eighth in the 100m hurdles with a 13.66. Pharr also took 12th in the triple jump with a leap of 41 feet and three inches.
Sophomore Kou Luogon finished ninth in the finals of the 400m dash with a 54.23. She was also 23rd in the triple jump, posting a 39-05.75. The Tide’s 4x100m relay of freshman Rachel Wilson, Pharr, junior Christy Fairley and Walker, just missed an automatic bid when it took fifth place with a time of 45.36. The top-3 relays from each regional advance.
