University of Tennessee Athletics
Sharon Dickie Takes 29th at NCAA Championships
November 20, 2000 | Women's Track
Sophomore takes home All-America honors
AMES, Iowa - Tennessee sophomore Sharon Dickie (Grand Blanc, Mich.) finished 29th at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday while battling temperatures in the mid-teens with a wind-chill factor that made the temperature 19 degrees below zero.
She completed the 6K race in 21:21.8 and earned All-American honors for the first time in her career. Dickie becomes the 10th All-American in Lady Vol Cross Country history and the first since 1989 when Jasmin Jones and Patty Wiegand each earned the honors.
To qualify for the national championship, Dickie won the NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 11 with a time of 20:38.79 on the 6K course at the University of Alabama. With that win, Dickie earned South Region Athlete of the Year honors and picked up the second All-Region accolades of her career. Prior to the regional meet, Dickie earned an All-Southeastern Conference nod by finishing third at the SEC Championships behind a pair of runners from Arkansas.
Dickie enjoyed her most successful season in 2000 after sitting out the entire 1999-2000 cross country and track seasons with a hip injury. During her freshman season in 1998, she earned All-SEC and All-Region honors while helping the Lady Vols to an appearance at the NCAA Championships, where she led the team with a 74th-place finish.
The overall team champion was the University of Colorado, who racked up 117 points, while Kara Grgas-Wheeler of the Buffaloes took home individual honors in a time of 20:30.5. Dickie has now completed her cross country action for the season and will competing with head coach Myrtle Ferguson's track team as a member of the distance team.
