Women's Track Finishes Seventh at SEC Outdoor Championships
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM
May 17, 2009
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Alabama women's track and field team concluded competition at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Sunday in James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track. The Crimson Tide finished seventh with 52.50 points at this year's championships, an improvement from ninth place in 2008.
Meghan Austin scored one point in the first event of the day for Alabama. She threw the javelin 136-3 to finish eighth overall.
The 4x100m relay team posted four more points to the team total as the squad of Audra Frimpong, Talaya Owens, Toni Graham and Heather Matherson finished fifth with a season best time of 45.51.
In the 100m hurdles, Audra Frimpong finished seventh with a time of 13.85. Kim Laing, coming into the final with a good chance of winning, clipped one of the last hurdles in second place before falling to the track and out of her lane and was disqualified. Laing did eventually get back to her feet and crossed the finish line under her own power to a standing ovation from the crowd.
The Crimson Tide had a 3-4 and eighth place finish in the high jump with it's trio of jumpers. Chealsea Taylor and Krystle Schade both cleared 5-8 3/4, but due to Schade hitting the bar more than her teammate, she fell to fourth place while Taylor finished third. Rachel Robbs earned a half point by tying for eighth place with a clearance of 5-5.
Talaya Owens ran a season best time of 58.20, bettering her previous best by 1.7 seconds, to cross the line in fourth place earning five much needed points.
Angelica Howard made the finals of the shot put after having her best throw of 50-2 1/2 in her first attempt in the circle. Howard would go on to finish sixth.
Other top eight finishers (scorers) for the Crimson Tide at this year's SEC Championships were: Howard (SEC Champion) in the hammer throw, Taylor (4th) and Robbs (6th) in the heptathlon, Sara Vaughn (6th) in the 3,000m steeplechase and Christina Octavien (8th) in the discus.
Earning her second region qualifier, Kelsey Johnson crushed her former personal best by nearly 40 seconds in the 5,000m race. Johnson's time of 16:47.82 put her five seconds under the regional mark and she finished sixth in the race.
In the 4x400m relay, the Alabama squad of Owens, Robbs, Heather Matherson and Taylor turned in a eighth place finish with their seasonal best time of 3:52.67.
Host school, Florida, claimed the 2009 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championship with 135.50 points followed by LSU and Tennessee with 113 and 106 points, respectively. Arkansas (96.50) was fourth, Auburn (76) fifth, Kentucky (56) sixth, Alabama (52.50) seventh, South Carolina (51) eighth, Georgia (45.50) ninth, Mississippi (44) 10th and Mississippi State (42) 11th. Vanderbilt did not score any points as a team.
"I think we had a little bit of everything today," head coach Sandy Fowler said. "There were events we certainly could've done better in. With Kim Laing in the hurdles falling down, that's tough but for her to be as competitive as she is, she has to have the strength to move forward to regionals. I'm very proud of Kelsey with her major personal best in the 5,000m and finishing sixth. I also think Talaya will continue to drop her time in the hurdles at regionals. Those girls in the high jump did a fantastic job as well finishing 3, 4, and 8. I'm proud of my young team, we can always say what if, but this is where we stand, they did a good job."
Alabama will travel nine ladies including the 4x100m relay team to the NCAA Mideast Region Championships being held in Louisville, Ky. on May 29-30.
Players Mentioned
