University of Tennessee Athletics
CHAMPION SETS TONE FOR LADY VOLS AT KENTUCKY INVITATIONAL
January 13, 2007 | Women's Track
Jan. 13, 2007
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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Junior sprinter Courtney Champion rolled to a pair of victories and headlined a day that saw the University of Tennessee women's track & field team chart one automatic NCAA qualifying mark and collect five other provisionals at the season-opening Kentucky Invitational at Nutter Fieldhouse.
"We had a great start," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. "Courtney Champion hit an auto mark in our first meet, which is absolutely fantastic. We had a lot of provisionals and personal bests throughout our whole team, so we are very happy with this effort. It was a great meet and a great opener."
Champion evoked memories of her stellar freshman season, ripping off a victorious 7.26-second readout in the 60-meter dash finals that was worthy of automatic qualification to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Champion, the SEC runner-up and NCAA sixth-place finisher in 2005, also clicked off a 7.29 readout in the prelims. Those two marks by the junior from Lawrenceville, Ga., are the fastest season-opening 60s in program history.
Cleo Tyson, an 11-time All-American, covered the straight sprint in a provisional-qualifying 7.40 to make the finals, but the coaching staff opted not to run the Huntsville, Texas, product in the "money race." Rookie Lynne Layne (New Rochelle, N.Y.) wound up fourth in a 7.45 run that just missed the provisional standard (7.44), while junior LaTonya Loche (Bastrop, La.) was eighth at 7.63.
Champion, who owns facility high school records here in two events, collected her second victory of the meet and added an NCAA provisional in the 200-meter dash later in the day. Her 23.61 readout easily met the "B" mark of 23.90. Layne, meanwhile, grabbed seventh place in a time of 24.43, and Loche was 10th in 24.76.
Freshman Nia Ali (Philadelphia, Pa.) made her presence felt as well, zipping to a second-place time of 8.22 in the 60-meter hurdle finals and registering an NCAA provisional marker. Her readout ranks as the fastest opening-meet 60m hurdles output and the second-best performance in school history behind Benita Fitzgerald's 8.18 in 1983.
Ali, who took runner-up honors behind Georgia Tech junior Shantia Moss (8.17), had company in the finals, as sophomore Celriece Law (Denver, Colo.) grabbed fourth in 8.52 and sophomore Pavi'Elle "Tiki" James, a transfer from Miami (Fla.) was right behind her in 8.55. Ali (second), Law (third) and James (seventh) give UT three hurdlers on the school's all-time performers list.
In the mile run, sophomore Sarah Bowman (Warrenton, Va.) added yet another provisional, covering the distance in four minutes, 46.94 seconds to place second behind Michigan senior Katie Erdman. Bowman, who led until the Wolverine All-American passed her just into the bell lap, logged the second-fastest season-opening mile time in UT annals. Only Brenda Webb's 1979 effort of 4:39.5 was faster this early in the season. To boot, Bowman just missed her PR of 4:46.17, which she recorded in last year's SEC Indoor prelims.
The distance corps also came through with two PR efforts in the 3000 meters. It was a day for Katies, as Katie Van Horn (Glendora, N.J.) knocked 15 seconds off her previous best to place fifth in 9:43.21, while Katie Flaute (Dayton, Ohio) was sixth in 9:44.95. In their UT track debuts, rookies Rose-Anne Galligan (County Kildare, Ireland) and Jackie Areson (Delray Beach, Fla.) were 10th in 9:50.83 and 16th in 10:02.85, respectively.
In the 800 meters, senior Leslie Treherne (Chesapeake, Va.) led for a good portion of her race before finishing fourth in 2:10.36 and missing the auto cut of 2:09.00 by a little over a second. Freshman Phoebe Wright (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) won her section in 2:15.59 and placed sixth overall.
In the shot put, sophomore Amara McKell (Nashville, Tenn.) registered her second PR of the meet. Her heave of 44-4 3/4 was good for a tie for ninth place. Junior Shanna Dickenson (Cincinnati, Ohio), meanwhile, was 13th with an effort of 42-7. Dickenson had a provisional in the weight throw on Friday night (62-5).
As part of her first meet success, Ali also added a third-place finish in the long jump, turning in a top leap of 18-11.25. Layne was ninth at 17-9.75.
Tennessee closed out the day by running three different 4x400m relay line-ups, all with an exhibition-style flavor. The lineup of Loche, Treherne, Layne and Wright was the best of the three, finishing ninth in 3:54.20.
The Lady Vols are scheduled to return to action next Friday at the Notre Dame Indoor Opener.
| FRIDAY, JAN. 12 | ||
| EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) | ||
| Wt. Throw (Auto: 21.00, Prov: 19.00) 5:00 p.m. | ||
| 4th | Shanna Dickenson | 62-5/19.02m+ |
| Pole Vault (Auto: 4.20, Prov: 3.95) 6:00 p.m. | ||
| 16th | Rebecca Cole | 10-6/3.20m! |
| nm | Alicia Essex | (Missed at 11-5.75/3.50m) |
| Triple Jump (Auto: 13.30, Prov: 12.65) 6:00 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Celriece Law | 40-10.25/12.45m |
| Discus Throw (Not An NCAA Event) 8:30 p.m. | ||
| 3rd | Amara McKell | 146-6/44.66m! |
| 5th | Shanna Dickenson | 145-10/44.44m |
| SATURDAY, JAN. 13 | ||
| EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) | ||
| Shot Put (Auto: 16.90, Prov: 15.20) 11:00 a.m. | ||
| t9th | Amara McKell | 44-4.75/13.53m! |
| 13th | Shanna Dickenson | 42-7/12.98m |
| Long Jump (Auto: 6.40, Prov: 6.10) 11:00 a.m. | ||
| 3rd | Nia Ali | 18-11.25/5.77m |
| 9th | Lynne Layne | 17-9.75/5.43m |
| 60mH Prelims (Auto: 8.15; Prov: 8.43) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Nia Ali | 8.41p+/1st, ht. 4 (3rd) |
| Adv. | Celriece Law | 8.45p/2nd, ht. 3 (4th) |
| Adv. | Pavi'elle James | 8.63p/2nd, ht. 2 (5th) |
| 60m Prelims (Auto: 7.27; Prov: 7.44) 12:50 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Courtney Champion | 7.29p+/1st. ht. 2 (1st) |
| Adv. | Cleo Tyson | 7.40p+/1st, ht. 6 (2nd) |
| Adv. | Lynne Layne | 7.56p/2nd, ht. 7 (7th) |
| Adv. | LaTonya Loche | 7.60p/2nd, ht. 6 (9th) |
| Mile (Auto: 4:40.00; Prov: 4:48.00)^ 1:15 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Sarah Bowman | 4:46.94+ |
| 13th | Carly Matthews | 5:05.03 |
| 14th | Rolanda Bell | 5:06.99 |
| 60mH Final (Auto: 8.15; Prov: 8.43) 1:50 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Nia Ali | 8.22!+ |
| 4th | Celriece Law | 8.52 |
| 5th | Pavi'elle James | 8.55 |
| 60m Final (Auto: 7.27; Prov: 7.44) 2:00 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Courtney Champion | 7.26* |
| 3rd | Lynne Layne | 7.45 |
| 7th | LaTonya Loche | 7.63 |
| 800m (Auto: 2:05.20, Prov: 2:09.00)^ 3:00 p.m. | ||
| 4th | Leslie Treherne | 2:10.36 |
| 6th | Phoebe Wright | 2:15.59 |
| 10th | Kimarra McDonald | 2:17.52 |
| 18th | Rolanda Bell | 2:22.80 |
| 200m (Auto: 23.30, Prov: 23.90)^ 3:35 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Courtney Champion | 23.61+ |
| 7th | Lynne Layne | 24.43 |
| 10th | LaTonya Loche | 24.76 |
| 3000m (Auto: 9:15.00, Prov: 9:34.00)^ 4:15 p.m. | ||
| 5th | Katie Van Horn | 9:43.21! |
| 6th | Katie Flaute | 9:44.95! |
| 10th | Rose-Anne Galligan | 9:50.83 |
| 16th | Jackie Areson | 10:02.85 |
| 25th | Carly Matthews | 10:23.33 |
| 4x400mR (Auto: 3:33.00, Prov: 3:40.00)^ 4:50 p.m. | ||
| 9th | LaTonya Loche/Leslie Treherne Lynne Layne/Phoebe Wright | 3:54.20 |
| 11th | Kimarra McDonald/Sarah Bowman Celriece Law/Rolanda Bell | 4:00.22 |
| 15th | Tiki James/Rose-Anne Galligan Jackie Areson/Katie Flaute | 4:13.25 |
