Florida Gators
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Women's Track and Field Finishes in Top-10 for Fourth Straight Year at NCAA Outdoor Championship
Saturday, June 11, 2005 | Women's Track and Field
Sophomore All-American Tiandra Ponteen (St. Kitts) reset her school record in the 400-meter to lead the University of Florida women's track and field team to a 10th place finish Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. It marks the fourth straight year that the Gators have finished among the top-10 at the outdoor national championships.
"This is really a great accomplishment for our team," head coach Tom Jones said. "We have been through a lot this year and I really couldn't ask for any more from this team."
Texas took home top honors with 55 points. Florida moved to as high as fifth on Saturday and as high as fourth on Friday, the third day of the four day competition but ultimately finished inside the top-10 with 22 points.
Florida star on Saturday was Ponteen who raced around the oval in a time of 50.83 to finish second to UCLA's Monique Henderson who broke the NCAA meet record clocking in at 50.10, a mark that stood since 1989. Saturday marked the first 400m final in which Ponteen did not finish first during the indoor our outdoor season in 2005.
"My season isn't over yet," Ponteen said. "I started slow and I thought I felt myself coming back on her. I just started too slowly to win the race."
Ponteen has now collected six All-American honors while at Florida and is the school record holder in both the indoor and outdoor 400m. Ponteen's time on Saturday is the seventh-fastest time in the world in 2005.
"I'm really happy for Tiandra," Jones said. "She has been really banged up all year and to come out and run like that, I couldn't be more proud."
Collecting three points for the Gators on Saturday was freshman All-American Natalie Knight (Snellville, Ga.) who placed sixth in the 200m final in a time of 23.29 garnering the third All-American honor of her young Gator career.
"I very pleased with Natalie's run," Jones said. "That is a heck of a run out of lane two. She was really stretched this week and she did a heck of a job."
Knight also collected All-American honors on Friday as a member of Florida's sixth place 4x100m relay team.
"This whole experience has been overwhelming," Knight said. "I'm happy with where I finished. I've been injured a little so I don't think I could have done much better."
Also in action on Saturday was senior All-American Krystle Moss (Alexandria, Va.) who was competing in her fourth straight outdoor championships. Moss no-heighted in the high jump final.
Six Gators collected All-American honors this week in Sacramento for seven honors.
2005 Outdoor All-Americans
4x100m relay team – Lakecia Ealey, Nadine Palmer, Kia Raf, Natalie Knight
Discus – Rachel Longfors
400m – Tiandra Ponteen
200m – Natalie Knight
Women's Team Standings (Top-10)
1.Texas 55; 2. UCLA 48; 2. South Carolina 48; 4. Tennessee 40; 5. Stanford 29; 6. Georgia 28; 7. Southern California 25; 8. Nebraska 24; 9. Miami 23; 10. Brigham Young 22; 10. Florida 22
