LADY VOLS REGISTER PAIR OF REGIONAL MARKS AT OUTDOOR OPENER

March 24, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Patricia Hall and LaTonya Loche recorded NCAA regional qualifying times in the 400 meters, Felicia Guliford won the 5000 meters and the sprint medley relay claimed victory on Friday as the University of Tennessee women's track & field team successfully opened the outdoor portion of its schedule at the adidas Raleigh Relays.

Hall, a senior from St. Ann, Jamaica, and Loche, a sophomore from Bastrop, La., finished one-two in the 400 meters with each meeting the NCAA regional qualifying standard of 54.61. Hall was victorious in 53.31, while Loche gained runner-up status by crossing the line a second later in 54.31. Juniors Robin Mortel (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Mindy Sullivan (Lubbock, Texas) were ninth and 26th, respectively, in 57.08 and 58.67.

Hall and Loche earned lanes in the 400 meters at the NCAA Mideast Regional Meet, which will be held in Knoxville on May 26 and 27 at UT's Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium. Top performers at that meet earn trips to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., on June 7-10.

Joining Hall in the winner's circle on Friday was the Lady Vols' sprint medley relay unit. The quartet of sophomores Courtney Champion (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Cleo Tyson (Huntsville, Texas), junior Leslie Treherne (Chesapeake, Va.) and freshman Kimarra McDonald (Lumberton, N.J.) edged out the University of Pennsylvania for first-place honors with a clocking of three minutes, 57.15 seconds.

Junior Felicia Guliford (Gallup, N.M.) collected a triumph of her own, capturing the unseeded section of the 5000 meters in 17:30.84. Freshman teammate Sarah Bowman (Warrenton, Va.) made it a one-two Lady Vol punch, covering the distance in 17:38.22. Junior Carly Matthews (Winston-Salem, N.C.) ran in the seeded section of the 5K and was 25th in 17:37.84.

In the throws events, senior April Thomas (Albany, Ga.) fared the best of the Big Orange participants, tying for seventh in the shot put with a heave of 45 feet, 2 1/4 inches. In the discus, sophomore Shanna Dickenson (Cincinnati, Ohio) was 11th with a fling of 144 feet, six inches. Senior Ariel Brooks (Miami, Fla.) was 17th at 139-10, while sophomore Amara McKell (Nashville, Tenn.) was 22nd at 131-11.

Redshirt freshman Celriece Law (Denver, Colo.) advanced to the finals of the 100-meter hurdles, traversing the obstacles in 14.67 with a headwind of -1.3 meters per second. Senior Caitlin Ward (Gibsonia, Pa.) was 52nd at 15.80 (-0.5). Ward also competed in the high jump but did not clear the opening height of 5-3.

"The idea is to get people qualified for regionals and give them a chance to go to the national meet," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. "That's what we did today in the 400m. We'll have several people in action on Saturday, and we are looking to do the same thing and get the qualifying marks out of the way early."

Tennessee will be back in action on Saturday in 12 events, beginning with the unseeded section of the 1500 meters at 11:15 a.m. Second-day action concludes around 5 p.m.

Results for the 2006 adidas Raleigh Relays can be found via a link at www.utladyvols.com or here.

FRIDAY, MARCH 24 EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS)
Shot Put (Regional: 46-11/14.30m) 10:00 a.m.
t7th	April Thomas	45-2.25/13.77m
High Jump (Regional: 5-8.75/1.75m) 10:00 a.m.
nm	Caitlin Ward	Opening ht. (5-3/1.60m)
Unseeded 5000m (Regional: 16:52.00) 10:45 a.m.
1st	Felicia Guliford	17:30.84
2nd	Sarah Bowman	17:38.22
100mH Prelims (Regional: 13.92) 12:30 p.m.
Adv.	Celriece Law	14.67p (w:-1.3)/8th, ht. 1(16th)
52nd	Caitlin Ward	15.80p (w:-0.5)/7th/ht. 7
Discus (Regional: 155-2/47.30m) 2:00 p.m.
11th	Shanna Dickenson	144-6/44.05m
17th	Ariel Brooks	139-10/42.63m
22nd	Amara McKell	131-11/40.21m
400m (Regional: 54.61) 2:40 p.m.
1st	Patricia Hall	53.31#
2nd	LaTonya Loche	54.31#
9th	Robin Mortel	57.08
26th	Mindy Sullivan	58.67
Sprint Medley Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 5:20 p.m.
1st	Courtney Champion / Cleo Tyson Leslie Treherne / Kimarra McDonald	3:57.15
Seeded 5000m (Regional: 16:52.00) 6:05 p.m.
25th	Carly Matthews	17:37.84