Women's Track Takes Second Place at Clemson Invitational
1/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Alabama women's track team finished the Clemson Invitational in impressive fashion by earning a second place finish Saturday from the Clemson Track and Field Complex. The Tide put together the best finish among the SEC schools, outdistancing Auburn and Mississippi State.
"I feel we had a definite improvement from a week ago and our team really competed this weekend," head coach Sandy Fowler said. "The younger athletes got to see and understand the steps needed to compete in the SEC."
Alabama was able to climb up from its fourth place spot to a runner-up finish on the strength of three individual first place finishes.
Senior distance ace Julia Hicks won the mile for the second consecutive year at the event. Hicks turned in a time of 4:54.42. Sophomore Ashley Ard scored for the Tide, finishing in fourth place with a time of 5:12.11.
For the second consecutive year junior Lynda Cooper found a liking to the Clemson vault runway. Cooper set a new school record with a vault of 12-00 to finish fifth overall. Last year Cooper set a school record with a mark of 11-05.75 at the same meet. Katherine Strickland scored some important points for the Tide with a vault of 11-06, to finish sixth overall.
After making her 2008 debut in the distance medley yesterday, All-American Trish Bartholomew had no problems with her first individual event. The senior won the 200 meters in a personal indoor best time of 24.53.
Alabama also saw the debut of nine-time junior college national champion Betty Rotich in the 3000 meters. The Nakuru, Kenya native won the event with a time of 10:05.69. Freshman Haley Moody finished eighth with a time of 10:17.65.
Alabama continued its dominance in the throwing events with two more scorers in the shot put on Saturday. Freshman Angelica Howard placed second with a toss of 44-11 (13.71m). Christina Octavien finished eighth with a mark of 39-09 (12.12m).
Alabama will train through the week and then compete at the Adidas/Nebraska Invitational on Friday, Feb. 8 in Lincoln, Neb.
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