University of Tennessee Athletics
Slinden Finishes 15th In Discus At Olympic Trials
July 16, 2000 | Women's Track
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. - University of Tennessee sophomore Diane Slinden finished 15th overall in the semifinals of the women's discus at the United State Olympic Team Track and Field Trials here Sunday.
Slinden, a native of Menomonie, Wis., recorded a throw of 163-00 in her first attempt of the day and then proceeded to foul in her final pair of throws. The top 12 athletes in the 22-woman field advance to Monday night's finals with the top three in the finals representing the United States at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in September. The automatic mark for the finals was 193-7.
Slinden finished eighth in her flight and third among current collegians behind Summer Pierson of Stanford in sixth and Cheree Hicks of Syracuse in 10th. The overall leader, Suzy Powell, set a new Olympic Trials record with a throw of 203-01.
Slinden's performance marked the only current Lady Vol to compete at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. The team, however, will have a representative in Sydney as Lady Vol volunteer assistant coach Andy Bloom finished third in the men's shot put on Saturday to earn his ticket to Australia. Bloom recorded a throw of 70-10 to finish third behind Adam Nelson and C.J. Hunter and earn his place on the U.S. team.
Former Lady Vols were also among the entrants in the field as sprinter Kelli White (1996-99) finished 22nd overall in the 100-meters with a mark of 11.54 in the preliminaries. The time did not advance her to the event semifinals. In the 1,500m, Alisa Harvey (1984-87) finished 17th with a time of 4:16.41 in the preliminaries and did not advance. Sadiah Jones (1994-98), another former UT sprinter, finished 23rd overall in the preliminaries of the 400m with a time of 57.07.
The U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials will continue through Sunday, July 23.
