University of Tennessee Athletics
Georgia Tech Invitational Offers Redemption For Lady Vols
July 26, 2001 | Women's Track
July 26, 2001
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Call it a last chance meet or an opportunity to build confidence, but this weekend's Georgia Tech Invitational at George C. Griffin Track in Atlanta will be the destination for four members of the University of Tennessee women's track and field team who are focused on performing well. Action for UT's competitors gets underway Friday evening and concludes Saturday night.
Junior Diane Slinden enters the meet with a view from the catbird's seat. The Menomonie, Wis., native already has a ticket to the NCAA Championships, which are slated for May 30 - June 2 in Eugene, Ore. Her 182-3 measurement in the discus throw ranks her third in the nation and first in the Southeastern Conference this week. However, a subpar day at the SEC Championships last weekend, where she threw only 158-8 to place fifth, has sent Slinden to the meet aiming to shake off the dust and gain momentum in advance of the national competition in two weeks.
Freshman Denita Miller, who claimed the SEC title in the javelin throw last Sunday with a heave of 153-7, will attempt to improve her NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 159-3 and rise from 12th on the national list. An average of 22 athletes have been taken in her event the past three seasons, so Miller is virtually assured a ticket to the Pacific Northwest. However, the Liberal, Kan., native would like to hone her skills and find a way to top her prep PR of 161-4 in the coming days.
The last two members of the quartet are in a much more precarious situation. Sophomores Kameisha Bennett and Christie Elwin are not even on the bubble heading into the weekend, but both have the capabilities to make a drastic leap up the qualifying lists.
Elwin, from Adelaide, Australia, is on the provisional list in the pole vault, but her 12-6 clearance in 2001 is way down on the totem pole. She would need to achieve a height of 13-1 to 13-2 to elicit a bid, and that is not out of the question when one considers her one-time high school best of 13-1. Her collegiate PR, attained at the 2000 SEC outdoor meet, is 12-8.25.
As for Bennett, the Dayton, Ohio, product is trying to go two-for-two at qualifying for nationals. After making the indoor field with a 2:07.09 time inside, she posted back-to-back personal bests at SECs over the weekend, lowering her outdoor reading to 2:08.54. A time in the low 2:06 neighborhood would appear to be the cutoff point for a trip to Oregon.
LADY VOLUNTEER COMPETITORS
Georgia Tech Invitational - Atlanta, Ga. - May 18-19, 2001
SCHED./RESULTS FOR MAY 18 AT GA. TECH
EVENT (NCAA QUALIFYING MARKS)
Javelin (Auto: 52.50, Prov: 46.50), 8:00 p.m.
Denita Miller
SCHED./RESULTS FOR MAY 19 AT GA. TECH
EVENT (NCAA QUALIFYING MARKS)
Pole Vault (Auto: 4.10, Prov: 3.80), 4:00 p.m.
Christie Elwin
Discus (Auto: 54.50, Prov: 50.50), 5:00 p.m.
Diane Slinden
800m Pre (Auto: 2:05.00, Prov: 2:07.50), 6:45 p.m.
Kameisha Bennett
KEY
dnc - Did Not Compete
dnf - Did Not Finish
f - Facility Record
h - Hand Times
nh - No Height Cleared
nm - No Mark Recorded
p - Prelims
* - NCAA Automatic Qualifier
+ - NCAA Provisional Qualifier
! - Personal Record (Outdoors)
sr - School Record (Outdoors)
w - wind-aided time
