Rachel Robbs Posts NCAA Provisional in Heptathlon
3/27/2009 12:00:00 AM
March 27, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's track and field team continued competition as host of the Alabama Relays at Sam Bailey Track and Field Stadium on Friday. After a rainy morning, the sun came out from behind the clouds to make for a great day on the oval to end the heptathlon competition.
The Crimson Tide heptathletes duo of Chealsea Taylor and Rachel Robbs posted top five finishes in the long jump. Taylor was third and Robbs was fifth with marks of 18-3 and 17-5 1/2, respectively.
Robbs continued her stellar weekend thus far as she won the sixth event, javelin, with a mark of 136-9.
Taylor turned in a time of 2:31.79 to finish fifth in the 800m run, the last event of the heptathlon.
In the heptathlon final standings, four athletes, including Alabama's Robbs, qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships being held in June in Fayetteville, Ark. Marrissa Harris of Mississippi State won the event with a total of 5,397 points. Jasmine Cotton (Cincinnati) was second and Laquinta Aaron (Mississippi State) was third with 5,321 and 5,163 points, respectively.
"For Rachel, qualifying for NCAA was one of our goals as was getting her under 2:30 in the 800m so we know there's still more to work on and I think she has more points to gain in that event as well as the javelin and hurdles," head coach Sandy Fowler said. "With both those athletes, we left some points out there. This is Chealsea's first heptathlon ever so she's still learning. She's probably struggling the most with the javelin; that's a tough event because you have to run as fast as you can and then throw something. I'm proud of them, I thought they did great and they competed well and you can't ask for anything more than that. It's a great way to open the home meet."
Robbs was fourth with a point total of 5,101 while Taylor was fifth with 5,015 points. The duo is now second and third, respectively, in the school record books. Taylor was just 35 points from the NCAA qualifying total.
"I think that both of them performed very well," assistant coach Scott Roberts said. "This is March 27 and hitting those national marks now is just great. Chealsea was 35 points away and we know she's a six-foot high jumper so she left a lot of points there. I think both these kids have a real, real shot at not only breaking the Alabama school record (5,440), but also being in Fayetteville for the NCAA Championships."
In the hammer throw, the first single event, two of the three Crimson Tide athletes advanced to the finals. Angelica Howard set a huge personal best with a heave of 178-3, bettering her former best by over 20 feet to place third overall. Howard also earned a spot at the NCAA Regional Championships with the throw. Elizabeth Wilson claimed ninth place with a mark of 158-5 in the finals. Amethyst Holmes was 11th overall with a throw of 150-2. Jasmine Williams was 12th throwing the hammer 147-1.
"Angelica has made huge gains in the hammer to reach a regional mark this early in the year," Fowler said. "It really shows the promise she has to make the NCAA Championship in June, the sky is the limit."
Running events will resume Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the women's 10,000m race and field events are set to follow beginning at 10:00 a.m. with the men's collegiate section pole vault gets underway.
Players Mentioned
