University of Tennessee Athletics
DICKENSON UNLEASHES SCHOOL BEST IN HAMMER THROW TO PACE UT
April 06, 2007 | Women's Track
April 6, 2007
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Shanna Dickenson's school-record hammer throw was one of three new NCAA regional qualifying marks registered Friday by the 10th-ranked Tennessee women on the opening day of the Pepsi Florida Relays at Percy Beard Track.
Dickenson was joined in the regional qualifiers club by junior Courtney Champion (Lawrenceville, Ga.) in the 100-meter dash and sophomore Celriece Law (Denver, Colo.) in the 100-meter hurdles. The Lady Volunteers now have 10 entries in seven different events for the NCAA Mideast Regional on May 25-26 in Columbia, Mo.
With an improvement of nearly 19 feet from her throw of 175 feet, seven inches two weekends ago and an increase of 15 feet and change over her previous personal record of 179-2, Dickenson's measurement of 194-5 today moved her past Ariel Brooks (189-6, 2005) as UT's all-time best in the hammer throw. The UT performer's effort was the best by a collegian at this year's Pepsi Florida Relays and placed her second overall in the competition behind American record-holder Erin Gilreath (224-4), formerly of Florida and now with New York Athletic Club.
Champion, who enjoyed a stellar indoor campaign with NCAA finishes of second and third in the 60- and 200-meter dashes, opened her outdoor campaign with a regional qualifier in the 100 meters. Her burst of 11.59 seconds into a head wind of 1.2 meters per second propelled her to victory on Friday. She now has won 13 of the last 15 straight races she has entered after taking first in 12 of 14 starts in the 60 meters indoors this season. Freshman teammate Lynne Layne (New Rochelle, N.Y.), who has already qualified for regionals in both the 100m and 200m, covered the distance in the shorter race today in 11.75 to finish third.
Law was the third Lady Vol to earn a ticket to Columbia with her performance today. Her readout of 13.61 in the 100m hurdles earned her a finish of fifth in the final standings and garnered her a second straight appearance in the NCAA regional meet. Sophomore Pavi'Elle "Tiki" James (Miami, Fla.), who made the regional cut two weekends ago in this event at 13.81, again ran below the regional plateau in 13.91 on Friday and finished 11th overall, while freshman Nia Ali (Philadelphia, Pa.) was 14th at 14.02.
"We're continuing to add to our total," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. "It's very nice to see Shanna break the school record in the hammer. You know things are moving in the right direction when you see marks of that caliber. The weather was a little cooler than normal, but it was nice enough that we were able to get some good things done today."
Already on the travel list for the Mideast Regional in the 1500 meters, freshman Rose-Anne Galligan (County Kildare, Ireland) improved her season-best clocking in that event to 4:24.82 to finish as the top college runner and snag second-place honors overall. Sophomore Rolanda Bell (Laurelton, N.Y.) was fifth in a career-best 4:33.79, freshman Kelly Parrish (Ocala, Fla.) was sixth in a PR 4:37.47 and rookie Jackie Areson (Delray Beach, Fla.) was ninth in 4:40.80.
Sophomore Sarah Bowman (Warrenton, Va.), with regional marks in the 800m and 1500m already under her belt, dipped below the regional barrier in the 800m again Friday. Her 2:07.55 reading was the best at the meet by a collegiate athlete and good for second overall.
Tennessee also picked up a pair of runner-up relay finishes in non-NCAA events. The combination of Ali, Champion, Layne and junior LaTonya Loche (Bastrop, La.) took second in the 4x200m relay in 1:34.12, a mark that ranks seventh in school history. In the 4x1600m tandem event, the quartet of Bell, Areson, sophomore Katie Van Horn (Glendora, N.J.) and Parrish snagged second in 20:14.01.
"We got a win in the 100m, a school record in the hammer and our third new regional mark today with Celriece's time in the 100m hurdles," Clark said. "There were also two or three other events where we had the first collegiate finishers. It's good to see that about the only athletes and teams beating us are of professional caliber. On a whole, it was a good day for the Lady Vols."
Elsewhere for the Big Orange, junior Amara McKell (Nashville, Tenn.) uncorked a PR throw of 42-9 3/4 in the "B" division of the shot put, and Layne was the best of three UT entries in the "B" long jump, stretching the tape to 18-10 to finish eighth. UT will return to action on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time and is expected to have competitors in 11 different events.
| FRIDAY, APRIL 6 | ||
| 100mH (Regional: 13.92) 12:25 p.m. | ||
| 5th | Celriece Law | 13.61# (w: 1.4) |
| 11th | Pavi'Elle "Tiki" James | 13.91# (w: 1.4) |
| 14th | Nia Ali | 14.02 (w: 1.0) |
| Shot Put "B" (Regional: 16.90m) 1:30 p.m. | ||
| 4th | Amara McKell | 42-9.75/13.05m! |
| 8th | Nia Ali | 35-1.75/10.71m! |
| Long Jump "B" (Regional: 19-8.25/6.00m) 1:30 p.m. | ||
| 8th | Lynne Layne | 18-10/5.74m (w: 0.9) |
| 10th | Pavi'Elle "Tiki" James | 18-4.25/5.59m (w: -1.2) |
| 15th | Brittany Daniels | 15-9.50/4.81m (w: 1.0) |
| 1500m (Regional: 4:27.80) 1:50 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Rose-Anne Galligan | 4:24.82# |
| 5th | Rolanda Bell | 4:33.79! |
| 6th | Kelly Parrish | 4:37.47! |
| 9th | Jackie Areson | 4:40.80 |
| 400m (Regional: 54.61) 2:30 p.m. | ||
| 32nd | Phoebe Wright | 57.31! |
| 100m (Regional: 11.75) 4:00 p.m. | ||
| 1st | Courtney Champion | 11.59# (w: -1.2) |
| 3rd | Lynne Layne | 11.75# (w: 1.1) |
| 800m (Regional: 2:09.80) 4:30 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Sarah Bowman | 2:07.55# |
| Pole Vault "A" (Regional: 12-5.50/3.80m) 5:30 p.m. | ||
| nm | Alicia Essex | Missed at 12-5.50/3.80m |
| Hammer Throw "A" (Regional: 177-8/54.15m) 6 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Shanna Dickenson | 194-5/59.25m!#sr |
| 4x200m Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 6:55 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Nia Ali/Courtney Champion/Lynne Layne/LaTonya Loche | 1:34.12 |
| 4x1600m Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 7:55 p.m. | ||
| 2nd | Rolanda Bell/Jackie Areson/Katie Van Horn/Kelly Parrish | 20:14.01 |
| SATURDAY, APRIL 7 | ||
| Shuttle Hurdle Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Lady Vol Lineup TBA | ||
| Javelin "B" (Regional: 142-6/43.45m) 12:30 p.m. | ||
| Amara McKell | ||
| Triple Jump "B" (Regional: 40-5/12.32m) 1:30 p.m. | ||
| Brittany Daniels | ||
| Distance Medley Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 2:15 p.m. | ||
| Lady Vol Lineup TBA | ||
| 3000mSC (Regional: 10:50.25) 2:45 p.m. | ||
| Jackie Areson | ||
| Kelly Parrish | ||
| Discus "A" (Regional: 155-2/47.30m) 3:30 p.m. | ||
| Shanna Dickenson | ||
| Amara McKell | ||
| 4x100m Relay (Regional: 45.70) 4:10 pm. | ||
| Lineup TBA | ||
| Shot Put "A" (Regional: 16.90m) 4:30 p.m. | ||
| Shanna Dickenson | ||
| 4x800m Relay (Not An NCAA Event) 6:00 pm. | ||
| Lineup TBA | ||
| 200m Invite (Regional: 23.96) 6:30 p.m. | ||
| Nia Ali | ||
| 4x400m Relay (Regional: 3:42.00) 9:25 p.m. | ||
| Lineup TBA | ||
KEY
# - NCAA Regional Qualifier, * - NCAA Automatic Qualifier, + - NCAA Provisional Qualifier, ! - Personal Record (Outdoors), dnf - Did Not Finish, dnq - Did Not Qualify, dnr - Did Not Run, dns - Did Not Start, dq - Disqualified, f - Facility Record, fs - False Start, h - Hand Times, nm - No Mark, p - Prelims, s - School Record (Outdoors).
