Florida Gators
NCAA Championships-Day 2
Women's Track 3rd at NCAA, 12 All-Americans for UF
Sunday, March 10, 2002 | Track and Field
The University of Florida women's track and field team scored 35 points to finish third at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. The Gator men's team finished in 34th place with a total of seven and a half points. The finish for the women's team is the highest finish for the Gators since 1993. All told for the weekend, Florida athletes brought 12 All-America certificates home to Gainesville. The women's team is the owner of nine of those honors.
Louisiana State won the women's team title with a total of 57 points, UCLA was second with 43. Tennessee ran away with the men's championship with 62.5 points, Alabama was second with 47.
"I'm really excited with how the weekend went," Gator head coach Tom Jones commented following the team's third-place finish. "We came close to scoring more, but I' really proud of [weight throwers] Candice Scott and Jukina Dickerson, the 800m runners [Kristina Bratton and Melissa DeLeon] and all the [athletes] from the back line that scored little points.
"It was a close meet, and we knew it would be. We knew that the winner would score in the 30's or 40's. We came close to being up there. I am really excited, we have a real young team with a lot of people back. Our goal was to be in the top four. We came into this meet and competed tough. It was a complete team effort."
Kristina Bratton earned her first-career All-America certificate with a second-place finish in the 800m. Bratton's time of 2:05.49 was one place behind the SEC champion from two weeks ago, Marian Burnett of LSU. Melissa DeLeon was seventh in the finals in 2:07.13, giving the Gators 10 points in the event.
Candice Scott earned her third-career All-America honor with her shot put of 54-8, which was good enough for fourth place. She was in second place after the preliminaries with that throw and remained in second until the second throw of the finals. Austra Skujyte of Kansas State overtook her for second. In the final round of the competition, Lisa Griebel of Iowa State pushed Scott to fourth. Scott missed third place by two and one quarter inches. Scott's mark of 54-8 increases her hold on second place all-time at Florida.
In the men's 800m, Moise Joseph got caught in traffic after the second lap. He nearly tripped on the third lap and finished eighth with a time of 1:52.56. Also a victim to traffic during competition was defending 400m champion Rickey Harris. In his heat of the 400m dash, Harris tripped as the runners broke to the rail at the 200-meter mark. Harris regained his feet and finished the heat, but was eighth overall with a time of 62.24. Harris was the final Gator to score a point for the men's team, giving its lowest total since 1997.
Brian DaCunha improved his personal best and strengthens his hold on second all-time at Florida in the pole vault with a mark of 17-7.25. He was 10th overall.
The women's 4x400m relay team did not finish after Niki Benjamin tripped and fell to the infield with 100 meters to go on the leadoff leg.
The Gator track and field teams are off from competition next weekend and will open the outdoor season at the Florida State Relays in Tallahassee on Feb. 23.
Florida's NCAA Champions
Women: Candice Scott-Weight Throw (23.05m/75-7.5)
Florida's All-Americans (15 athletes, 12 honors)
Men (6 athletes, 4 honors): Matt Vincent-High Jump, 7th (2.13m/6-11.75); Distance Medley Relay, 5th (Moise Joseph, Stefan Pastor, Ali Abiola, Chris Duncan)-9:34.10; Rickey Harris-400m, 8th (62.24); Moise Joseph-800m, 8th (1:52.56)
Women (9 athletes, 8 honors): Candice Scott-Weight Throw, 1st (23.05m/75-7.5); Shot Put, 4th (16.66m/54-8) Jukina Dickerson-Weight Throw, 3rd (21.28m/69-9.75); Amber Robinson-200m, 7th (23.35); Megan Westfall-Pole Vault, 8th (4.15m/17-7.25); Distance Medley Relay, 8th (Erin Merten, Faith Rein, Melissa DeLeon, Norma Vega)-11:24.34; Kristina Bratton-800m, 2nd (2:05.49); Melissa DeLeon-800m, 7th (2:07.13)
Final Top 10 Women's Team Scores
1. LSU, 57
2. UCLA, 43
3. Florida, 35
4. South Carolina, 31
5. Rice, 25
5. North Carolina, 25
5. Stanford, 25
8. Indiana, 23
9. Arizona, 19
10. Arkansas, 18.5
Final Top 10 Men's Team Scores
1. Tennessee, 62.5
2. Alabama, 47
3. LSU, 44
4. Arkansas, 39
5. Villanova, 20
6. South Carolina, 17.5
7. Clemson, 17
8. Kansas, 16
9. Mississippi State, 15
9. Oregon, 15
34. Florida, 7.5
End of Report
