University of Connecticut Athletics
Toppin and Toney Set To Compete At National Championship
5/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 30, 2001
Eugene, OR- On Saturday night, Tamika Toppin (Sr., South Plainfield, NJ) made history as she became the University of Connecticut's first- ever four-time All-American in women's track and field with a runner- up showing in the high jump at the 2001 Outdoor National Championship in Eugene, OR. Her height of 6' 0 1/2" finished second to that of Harvard's Dora Gyorffy, who cleared 6' 2 3/4".
Toppin, whose 5' 11 1/2" at the BIG EAST Championship gave her the conference title and qualified her for nationals, is one of five athletes who combined have attained All-America status a total of 12 times for UConn.
"I think it's great that I was able to finish where I did," stated Toppin. "My goal was to clear the first three heights with my first attempts and try to finish inside the top five. We worked a lot on my approach and three days ago we changed it by taking two steps out, which put me in a position to use more power. The finish was how I thought it would go. You looked at the list to see when people qualified and I've been on a roll and in a zone since the indoor season."
After narrowly missing the cut during the indoor season, Toney will be the only freshman to compete in the triple jump.
It was at the Penn Relays that Toney qualified for nationals with a distance of 42' 9". In doing so, she finished second at the meet and bettered the school record of 41' 10", which she had set at her first-ever collegiate outdoor competition. That mark earned her first place at the Florida International Invitational and erased the standard of 40' 2" that was established by Tammy Peeples in 1996. During the indoor season, she also finished as the top freshman in the country and 18th overall in the triple jump with a 42' 1/2" at the ECAC Championship, which finished second. That distance is also a school record as it bettered the 415 that Peeples had turned in during the 1997 season. The triple jump will begin at 5:45 p.m. (PT) on Friday.
