University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols' Alexander Takes Second in Discus at SEC Championships
May 16, 2009 | Women's Track
May 16, 2009
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Sophomore Annie Alexander earned a second-place finish in the discus throw Saturday afternoon, and the 12th-ranked Tennessee women set themselves up for scoring opportunities in three more events on the third day of the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Percy Beard Track.
Alexander nearly won the competition with her fifth attempt, but she was unable to stay in the ring after unleashing the implement with what looked to be her best throw. Her best measurement of 180 feet, five inches, which came on her first attempt, stood as her mark of record. Kentucky's Ashley Muffet had a first-try toss of 182-0 to prevent Alexander, the current NCAA and SEC leader at 188-9, from repeating as league champion.
"Obviously, Annie is talented enough to win the event, but it didn't work out that way today," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. "She still got us eight big points with her effort. We also still have tomorrow's event (shot put), which is very important for our team."
The second-year performer's eight-point contribution moved the Lady Vols into seventh place with 11 points after three days and six events. Host Florida took over the lead with 46 points, followed by Arkansas (45), Kentucky (39), Mississippi State and Alabama (22) and LSU (14).
In preliminary action, four Lady Vols earned lanes in Sunday's finals in a trio of events, setting up the Big Orange for a barrage of points on the final day. Seniors Sarah Bowman and Rolanda Bell advanced in the 1500 meters, senior Celriece Law moved along in the 100m hurdles and junior Lynne Layne did so in the 100m dash.
"It was a good day," Clark said. "Everyone advanced who we expected to advance. There were no surprises, and that is very important.
"We need all the points (to compete for a title), and the hardest part, sometimes, is just getting through the rounds. We did a good job today of doing that, and we just have to move forward from there and see what happens tomorrow."
In the 1500 meters, Bowman got the job done in resourceful fashion, picking up the pace a bit over the final 600 to win heat two in 4:23.36 and make her fourth SEC final. The fastest of the qualifiers, Bowman will run for her third SEC 1500m crown on Sunday. Bell had to battle a bit more, hanging on for fifth in heat one at 4:29.15. She qualified for her third league final in this event with the 10th best mark of the prelims.
Law, the league leader in the 100m hurdles, looked sharp in earning her fourth SEC final bid in that event. She posted the fastest time of the evening at 13.29, easily winning heat one while running into a 1.3 meters per second headwind. She was third at this meet a year ago and was the SEC Indoor champion this season in the 60m hurdles.
Layne closed out day three for Team Orange by advancing to her third league final in the 100m dash. She did so by finishing second in heat one in 11.46, which was the fifth best clocking of the qualifiers. She was the SEC Indoor runner-up in the 60m dash and has posted SEC Outdoor 100m finishes of fourth in 2008 and sixth in 2007.
In addition to Saturday's three qualified events, the Lady Vols will have 11 other finals on Sunday, starting with the javelin at noon. The other events include the triple jump, pole vault, high jump, shot put, 800m, 200m, 400m hurdles, 5000m and 4x100m and 4x400m relays. Alexander is the defending champion in the shot and enters the competition ranked second.
For live results from the meet, go to www.utladyvols.com and click on "live results" on the front daily schedule or on the schedule page.
| FRIDAY, MAY 15 | ||
| EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) | ||
| Hammer Throw Final (Regional: 177-8/54.15m) 5 p.m. | ||
| 6th (3 pts.) | Laquoya Kelly | 175-1/53.37m! |
| 13th | Akeela Bravo | 156-9/47.79m! |
| 800m Prelim (Regional: 2:09.80) 6:15 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Sarah Bowman | 2:03.96p!#/1st, ht. 1 (1st) |
| Adv. | Phoebe Wright | 2:05.64p#/1st, ht. 4 (3rd) |
| Adv. | Chanelle Price | 2:05.67p#/2nd, ht. 4 (4th) |
| 10th | Kimarra McDonald | 2:09.19p#/3rd, ht. 3 |
| 15th | Ramzee Fondren | 2:11.72p/4th, ht. 1 |
| 21st | Charity Honeycutt | 2:16.57p!/6th, ht. 4 |
| 24th | Kim White | 2:18.50p!/6th, ht. 2 |
| 27th | Chelsea Knotts | 2:21.35p/7th, ht. 1 |
| 200m Prelim (Regional: 23.96) 6:50 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Lynne Layne | 23.37p# (w: 1.2)/1st, ht. 1 (3rd) |
| 20th | Ashley Harris | 24.92p (w: 0.5)/5th, ht. 3 |
| 400mH Prelim (Regional: 1:00.82) 7:35 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Ellen Wortham | 1:00.02p!#/1st, ht. 3 (4th) |
| Adv. | Amanda Alexander | 1:01.34p!/3rd, ht. 1 (9th) |
| 10000m Final (Auto: 33:30.00; Prov. 35:00.00) 8:30 p.m. | ||
| 10th | Katie Van Horn | 37:09.65 |
| 17th | Michele Levy | 39:30.00! |
| SATURDAY, MAY 16 | ||
| EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) | ||
| Discus Final (Regional: 155-2/47.30m) 3:30 p.m. | ||
| 2nd (8 pts.) | Annie Alexander | 180-5/55.00m# |
| 15th | Akeela Bravo | 125-11/38.39m |
| Long Jump Final (Regional: 19-8.25/6.00m) 4:00 p.m. | ||
| 9th | Celriece Law | 18-11.75/5.78m (w: 0.0) |
| 12th | Lynne Layne | 17-11.75/5.48m (w: 0.1) |
| 1500m Prelim (Regional: 4:27.80) 6:15 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Sarah Bowman | 4:23.36p#/1st, ht. 2 (1st) |
| Adv. | Rolanda Bell | 4:29.15p/5th, ht. 1 (10th) |
| 100mH Prelim (Regional: 13.92) 6:45 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Celriece Law | 13.29p# (w: -1.3)/1st, ht. 1 (1st) |
| dns | Chardae Hancock | |
| 100m Prelim (Regional: 11.75) 7:55 p.m. | ||
| Adv. | Lynne Layne | 11.46p# (w: 1.6)/2nd, ht. 1 (5th) |
| 12th | Ashley Harris | 12.05p (w: 1.1)/7th, ht. 3 |
| dns | Chardae Hancock | |
| SUNDAY, MAY 17 | ||
| EVENT (NCAA DIV. I QUALIFYING MARKS) | ||
| Javelin Final (Regional: 142-6/43.45m) Noon | ||
| Holly Kane | ||
| Brittany Napoli | ||
| Triple Jump Final (Regional: 40-5/12.32m) 1:00 p.m. | ||
| Celriece Law | ||
| Pole Vault Final (Regional: 12-7.50/3.85m) 3:00 p.m. | ||
| Alicia Essex | ||
| High Jump Final (Regional: 5-8.75/1.75m) 5:00 p.m. | ||
| Ellen Wortham | ||
| 4x100m Relay Final (Regional: 45.70) 5:10 p.m. | ||
| (Celriece Law/Brittany Jones/Ellen Wortham/Lynne Layne/Ashley Harris/Chardae Hancock) | ||
| 1500m Final (Regional: 4:27.80) 5:30 p.m. | ||
| Sarah Bowman | ||
| Rolanda Bell | ||
| 100mH Final (Regional: 13.92) 5:50 p.m. | ||
| Celriece Law | ||
| 100m Final (Regional: 11.75) 6:30 p.m. | ||
| Lynne Layne | ||
| Shot Put Final (Regional: 46-11/14.30m) 6:30 p.m. | ||
| Annie Alexander | ||
| Laquoya Kelly | ||
| Akeela Bravo | ||
| 800m Final (Regional: 2:09.80) 6:50 p.m. | ||
| Sarah Bowman | ||
| Phoebe Wright | ||
| Chanelle Price | ||
| 400mH Final (Regional: 1:00.82) 7:15 p.m. | ||
| Ellen Wortham | ||
| Amanda Alexander | ||
| 200m Final (Regional: 23.96) 7:35 p.m. | ||
| Lynne Layne | ||
| 5000m Final (Regional: 16:52.00) 8:05 p.m. | ||
| Jackie Areson | ||
| Sarah Bowman | ||
| Katie Van Horn | ||
| Rolanda Bell | ||
| Michele Levy | ||
| Brittany Sheffey | ||
| 4x400m Relay (Regional: 3:42.00) 8:50 p.m. | ||
| (Phoebe Wright/Chanelle Price/Kimarra McDonald/Brittany Jones/Ellen Wortham/Amanda Alexander) | ||
| * All Times Eastern | ||
| 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). | ||
