Florida Gators
NCAA Championships-Day 1
One NCAA Champ, 3 School Records for Gator Track
Saturday, March 9, 2002 | Track and Field
The Florida Gator track teams came out of the first day of competition at the 2002 NCAA Indoor Championships with an individual champion and three school records. Sophomore Candice Scott won the weight throw, re-setting her own school record. Amber Robinson was seventh in the 200m with a school record time of 23.35 in the finals. Megan Westfall was eighth in the pole vault to extend her own school record to 13-7.25.
With her win, Scott becomes the ninth individual in UF women's track history to win an individual event and the first since 1999. She adds the national championship to her two Southeastern Conference championships.
The Gator women are in second place with 20 points, one points behind LSU. The men's team is in 21st place with 5.5 points.
"We started out well with the throwers carrying us in the morning," Gator head women's coach Tom Jones said. "I was really proud of Megan Westfall scoring in the pole vault and improving her own school record. The 800 meter runners ran did what they had to do to get to tomorrow's finals. Erin Merten had a tough break be missing out on the finals [of the mile], as did Ebony Shotwell in the 60 meters.
"Overall, we are a little behind where I though we would be after today. I expected us to have about 25 points. We'll just have to come out and score about 14 or 15 points tomorrow to be in the thick of it.
The first event of the competition was the women's weight throw. Scott won the event with a new personal best of 75-7.5 to win the competition. Her implement did not meet standards following the throw and will not count for records, but her mark still stands for the championship. Jukina Dickerson was third in the event at 69-9.75. Together the duo earned 16 points for the Gators.
"I felt pretty good [during the competition]," Scott said following her first career national championship. "I was not happy with how I threw at the SEC Championships, but it all came together today. I'm still happy with the result [despite not getting the collegiate record]."
Jamine Moton of Clemson was second with a mark of 73-10, surpassing Scott's collegiate record. Her implement did pass inspection for record purposes.
Matt Vincent finished in a tie for seventh place in the high jump. His mark of 6-11.75 gives him his first-career All-America award and one and a half points for the team.
Robinson helped the women's team cause by being the final qualifier for the finals of the 200m. Robinson's time of 23.62 made the finals by three-hundredths of a second. In the finals, Robinson improved to 23.35 to set the school record and was seventh to score two points for the team.
Westfall improved both her personal best and the school record with an eighth-place showing in the pole vault. Westfall's height of 17-7.25 was eighth among the competitors and boosts her to her first career All-America honor.
The women's distance medley relay team of Erin Merten, Faith Rein, Melissa DeLeon and Nroma Vega finished eighth with a time of 11:24.34. The men's DMR of Moise Joseph, Stefan Pastor, Ali Abiola and Chris Duncan was fifth with a time of 9:34.10, scoring four points for the team. A senior in his final NCAA indoor championship, Duncan broke the four-minute mile barrier for the first time in his career. He split 3:59.54 on the anchor leg.
The Gators competed in five events that were preliminaries for tomorrow's final night of competition.
By virtue of finishing second in their respective heats, the Kristina Bratton and DeLeon advanced to tomorrow's finals of the 800m. Bratton had a time of 2:05.29 and DeLeon finished in 2:07.87. Bratton came into the meet with the fastest time in the nation.
In the men's 800m, Joseph was second in his preliminary heat and will automatically qualify for tomorrow's finals. Joseph had a seasonal best time of 1:48.44 and will advance to the finals as the third overall seed.
Rickey Harris, the defending champion in the 400m dash, turned in a 46.31 in his heat to advance to the finals of the 400m tomorrow night. He will be the fourth seed heading into those finals.
Faith Rein was 13th in the preliminaries of the women's 400m dash. The finalists were determined by time and her time of 53.52 will not advance her to the finals. Ebony Shotwell missed qualifying for the finals of the 60m dash b8 .008 second. She finished in ninth place in the preliminaries with her time of 7.34 is a new personal best by six-hundredths of a second. Erin Merten was inched out for the finals of the women's mile. She was 12th in the preliminaries, missing the finals by 13-hundredths of a second.
In the men's 200m dash, Taylor Jacobs finished second in his heat with a time of 20.98. That time would have placed him in a tie for eighth and the final qualifier for the finals. However, he was disqualified for running out of his lane for more than four strides. Kyle Farmer finished 13th in the preliminaries in his first NCAA Championship meet with a time of 20.16. Jacobs' time would have been a personal best and moved him to sixth on the all-time list at Florida.
Florida's NCAA Champions
Women: Candice Scott-Weight Throw (23.05m/75-7.5)
Florida's All-Americans (13 athletes, 7 honors)
Men (5 athletes, 2 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
Women (8 athletes, 5 honors): Candice Scott-Weight Throw, 1st (23.05m/75-7.5); 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
Top 10 Women's Team Scores
1. LSU, 21
2. Florida, 20
3. Arkansas, 18.5
4. UCLA, 18
5. Indiana, 16
5. Illinois, 16
7. Arizona, 14
8. Colorado, 11
8. BYU, 11
10. Texas A&M, 10
10. Oklahoma State, 10
10. Auburn, 10
Top 10 Men's Team Scores
1. Alabama, 26
2. Arkansas, 21
3. Tennessee, 20
4. Colorado, 14
5. Mississippi State, 13
6. Nebraska, 11.5
7. Clemson, 10
7. Princeton, 10
7. Villanova, 10
10. North Carolina, 8
10. Idaho, 8
10. Texas, 8
10. Texas A&M, 8
10. LSU, 8
10. Wisconsin, 8
21. Florida, 5.5
End of Report
