Women's Track Concludes Stay at NCAA Championships
6/12/2009 12:00:00 AM
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Alabama women's track and field team concluded their stay at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships being hosted by the University of Arkansas at John McDonnell Field on Friday.
Heptathletes Chealsea Taylor and Rachel Robbs started the second day of competition in the heptathlon with three events remaining in 11th and 25th place, respectively. Before the heptathlon got underway, events were delayed for just over an hour as the second storm in three days on the weekend passed through.
The duo started the second day's events in the long jump with Robbs jumping 17-3 1/2 to finish 22nd in the event. Taylor finished 24th with her leap of 16-8 1/2. Robbs jumped to 24th while Taylor fell to 19th in the standings after five events.
Both athletes fared well in the javelin as Robbs walked away with a fifth place finish in the event and a mark of 134-7. Taylor set a personal best with a heave of 98-9, good enough for 21st.
Heading into the final event of the competition, Taylor and Robbs were in 18th and 19th, respectively. Taylor ran a season best 2:29.05 to place 20th in the 800 meters. Robbs, looking like she would set a huge personal best, succumbed to a hamstring cramp forcing her to pull out of the race with just over 400 meters remaining.
In the final heptathlon standings, Taylor finished 19th with 5,138 points in her first season competing in the heptathlon and Robbs finished 23rd with 4,361 points while lacking one event, the 800 meters.
"I'm proud of all three of the girls that competed today," head coach Sandy Fowler said. For Chealsea [Taylor] to place in the top 20 is kudos to her while especially she's still learning four of the seven events and Rachel, being a freshman, just the experience itself she's gained will be very beneficial."
True freshman Krystle Shade finished just one bar shy of All-American honors as she cleared 5-10 3/4 to finish 11th overall. Shade finished as the second best freshman in the field.
"I think Krystal [Schade] competed great and to come into this meet and finish 11th as a freshman is very impressive," Fowler said. "Now she'll get ready for the USA Championships that are coming up. It will be really exciting to see where this young team can be in the next few years."
Players Mentioned
