WT&F Notches Seven NCAA Regional Marks and Four Victories in Two Arizona Meets
Saturday, April 14, 2007 | General
Freshman Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) recorded the sixth-best shot put throw in school history and second-best in the nation, a regional qualifying and personal-best mark of 16.67m/54-8.25, to win the event and lead the University of Florida women's track and field team at the Mesa Classic in Mesa, Ariz., while junior Chinelo Ubaka (Tallahassee, Fla.) and sophomore Shawneise Williams (Archer, Fla.) each posted regional marks in the hammer throw at both the Mesa Classic and the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. on Friday.
In addition to Kevkhishvili, Ubaka and Williams, regional qualifying marks were posted by freshman Evelien Dekkers (Etten-Leur, The Netherlands) in the discus and freshman Lori Bowen (Surfside, Fla.) in the pole vault. Joining Kevkhishvili in victory was Bowen, junior Lorain McKenzie (Clarendon, Jamaica) in the 400m and senior Candace Cabey (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in the triple jump.
“We had a lot of our athletes set personal-best marks, and we now have regional qualifiers in all of the field events,” Florida women's interim head coach Steve Lemke said. “Everyone was real solid today, and everyone is getting more consistent with their performances. They are backing up their regional marks, so when we get into the bigger meets – the SEC meet and the NCAA meets – we will look for that consistency to payoff. We will be competing again on Saturday, so it will be good to see how well we compete on back-to-back days.”
Kevkhishvili's throw of 16.67m/54-8.25 in the shot put moved her from fifth to second on the national list and she improved upon her standing as the top competitor in the event in the Southeastern Conference. She earned her second regional qualifying mark of the season with a personal-best toss by nearly 14 inches. It is the second-straight week that Kevkhishvili has thrown a personal-best. Her victory in the shot put marked the first outdoor win of her career and came in commanding fashion as she finished over four feet head of the second-place finisher.
Ubaka and Williams first competed at the Mesa Classic where they earned their first regional marks of the day in the hammer throw. Ubaka threw the hammer a personal-best of 57.27m/187-10, the 10th-best throw in school history and third-best in the SEC this year, to finish third, while Williams recorded a toss of 55.26m/181-3, the sixth-best throw in the SEC to finish sixth. Ubaka's mark was a personal best by over five and a half feet, and Williams was just five inches shy of her personal-best throw in the event. Both Ubaka and Williams then traveled to the Sun Angel Classic to compete for a second time. At that meet, they both again posted regional qualifying marks as Ubaka took fourth with a throw of 56.10m/184-1, the second-best throw of her career, and Williams took fifth with a mark of 54.52m/178-10.
Dekkers, already regionally qualified in the javelin, achieved the regional standard in a second event, the discus, by posting a personal-best mark of 47.85m/157-0 to finish third. It was a personal-best throw for Dekkers by over two and a half feet and ranks as the fifth-best throw in the SEC.
“Our most impressive performance on the day was Mariam in the shot put. She threw a personal-best for the second week in a row,” Lemke added. “We also got great performances in the hammer throw from Chinelo and Shawneise, who both competed in two meets in the same day and both put up regional marks at the two meets, while another key part of the day was that Evelien regionally qualified in her second event, the discus.”
In the pole vault, Bowen recorded her second regional qualifying mark and second victory of the season by clearing the bar at 3.80m/12-8.50, tying her personal-best and ninth-best mark in school history. Freshman Lauren Menke (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) also set a PR in the event with a vault of 3.70m/12-1.50 to take third.
McKenzie earned victory in the 400m dash with a time of 55.40, while Cabey took the title in the triple jump with a leap of 12.26m/40-2.75. For McKenzie, it was the first time she has ran the 400m at Florida. Freshman Monique Delancy (Miami, Fla.) finished in third in the triple jump with a jump of 10.70m/35-1.25.
Junior Valeria Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) competed in the 3,000m steeplechase for the first time in her career and finished in second with a time of 11:51.80.
Competing for the men's squad on Friday, junior Wes Stockbarger (Port Charlotte, Fla.) notched the fifth-best throw in school history in the shot put and was the top collegiate finisher as the lone University of Florida men's track and field competitor at the Azusa Pacific Invitational on Friday.
Stockbarger was the top collegiate finisher in both the shot put and the discus on Friday. He recorded a throw of 18.46m in the shot put – the fifth-best toss in Florida history. He also took part in the discus and finished with a top mark of 56.86m to rank as the best collegian in the event. His mark in the discus was the third best of his career.
“Wes and his conditioning have gone very well this spring,” Florida field events coach Rana Reider said. “We've just got to get his technique and his strength on the same page. When those two things come together, we're going to see great things from Wes.”
For the women's team, competition in the Mesa Classic concluded on Friday while the Sun Angel Classic will continue on Saturday. The first event for the Gators on Saturday, the discus, will begin competition at 2 p.m. ET.
For the men on Saturday, freshman Mike Morrison (Chesapeake, Va.) and junior Kurt Lee (Spring Hill, Fla.) will compete in the Mt. SAC Relays pole vault. The rest of the Gators will take part in the Miami Elite Invitational.
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