University of Tennessee Athletics
One More Last Chance for UT Foursome
March 06, 2008 | Women's Track
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- With the NCAA Indoor Championships a week away and Tennessee Head Coach J.J. Clark hoping his Lady Vols can contend for another national title, he is sending four athletes to Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday to compete in the Virginia Tech Last Chance meet.
The competition will be one of eight taking place this weekend around the country, where athletes will have one final shot at hitting an NCAA qualifying mark worthy of a trip to the NCAA meet in Fayetteville, March 14-15. The University of Arkansas will serve as the host school of the national meet once again at its Randal Tyson Track Center.
Making the trek to Virginia Tech???s Rector Field House this weekend for UT will be senior LaTonya Loche (Bastrop, La.), juniors Alicia Essex (Purcellville, Va.) and Celriece Law (Denver, Colo.) and sophomore Lynne Layne (New Rochelle, N.Y.). Essex will take part in the pole vault at noon, Law will compete in the long jump at noon and the 60m hurdles prelims at 12:45 p.m., Loche will run the 400 meters at 2:30 p.m. and will join Layne in the 200 meters at 3:30 p.m.
Loche currently ranks 11th on the NCAA 400m qualifying list at 53.22, and she is 28th on the 200m list at 23.84. Essex stands 45th on the pole vault chart at 12-11 3/4. Law is tied for 30th on the 60m hurdles list at 8.37 and is not ranked in the long jump with a best of 18-9. Layne, meanwhile, is 20th nationally in the 200 meters at 23.72.
???We don???t have to take many to the last chance meet this year, just a couple trying to improve on their marks,??? Clark said. ???Lynne Layne has PRed in everything she has done this year and is trying to move up the lists. Hopefully, she can keep the ball rolling and get herself a mark that will get her to the NCAA meet in the deuce.
???With Celriece, she???s been getting very consistent with her times, and we???re looking for a break-through in the hurdles. The same could be said for LaTonya and Alicia in terms of the consistency and quest for one big improvement. We???re just trying to get as many scoring opportunities as possible for the NCAA meet.???
| SATURDAY, MARCH 8 |
| Pole Vault (Auto: 4.20, Prov: 3.95) Noon |
| Alicia Essex |
| Long Jump (Auto: 6.35, Prov: 6.10) Noon |
| Celriece Law |
| 60mH Pre. (Auto: 8.14; Prov: 8.43) 12:45 p.m. |
| Celriece Law |
| 60mH Fin. (Auto: 8.14; Prov: 8.43) 2:00 p.m. |
| Celriece Law? |
| 400m (Auto: 52.40; Prov: 54.40)b 2:30 p.m. |
| LaTonya Loche |
| 200m (Auto: 23.20, Prov: 23.90)b 3:30 p.m. |
| Lynne Layne |
| LaTonya Loche |
KEY
b - Banked Track Qualifying Standard, dnf - Did Not Finish, dnr - Did Not Run, f - Facility Record, fts - Flat Track Qualifying Standard, m - Meters, mr - meet Record, nm - No Mark Recorded, p - Prelims, s - School Record (Indoors), u - Undersized Track Qualifying Standard, * - NCAA Automatic Qualifier, + - NCAA Provisional Qualifier, ! - Personal Record (Indoors), ^ - Oversized Track Qualifying Standard
