University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Track & Field Sets Sights on NCAA Championship
6/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
June 8, 2009
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut women's track and field team will begin competition at the NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Wednesday, June 10 at the John McDonnell Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas. Seven Huskies will compete in six different events as the student-athletes qualified for the nationals after UConn, as a team, took seventh place out of 50 scoring teams at the East Regional in Greensboro, N.C. on May 31.
For UConn, it is the 15th National Championship in 18 years and is the ninth in the past 10 years as the program has never had more than four participants compete until this season.
Leading the way for the Huskies is two-time high jump All-American Carin Knight, who is competiting in her fifth National Championship after winning the Regional Championship title with a facility record 6' ½", while tying her personal record performance. Knight is currently undefeated in all championship meets this season, including the BIG EAST, New England, ECAC and Regional Championship competition. She enters Nationals ranked sixth out of 27 qualifiers.
Two-time National qualifier, Trisha-Ann Hawthorne, enters the week's competition as an automatic qualifier in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dash after placing in third in both events at the East Regional with times of 11.44 (100 meter) and 23.40 (200 meter). She enters Nationals ranked 19th out of 26 in the 100 and 17th out of 28 in the 200 meter dash. Prior to NCAA Championship competition, Hawthorne won both events at the BIG EAST and ECAC Outdoor Championship meets and was named Outstanding Performer in both meets.
Hawthorne is currently the school record holder in the 100, 200 and 60 meter dash as she is a part of the UConn record holding relays in the 4x100 and 4x200.
Amanda Martin enters competition as an automatic qualifier in the javelin as she took second place at the East Regionals with a school record mark of 50.94 meters (167' 1"). She is ranked 17th out of the 27 qualifiers competing this week in Arkansas and was the BIG EAST Champion in the javelin just a month ago.
UConn's 4x100 meter relay team also earned their way into National competition with a fourth place finish at the East Regional with a school record time of 44.42 during the preliminary round. The group consists of Jessica Foreman, Phylicia George, Monique Hodges and Hawthorne, while they are ranked 11th out of the 18 qualifying teams. The group is the first UConn relay team to qualify for the National Championship as they were both the BIG EAST and ECAC Champions in 2009.
"We are so excited coming off a great weekend at the Regional meet," said sprint/hurdle coach Clive Terrelonge. "Our young ladies performed at a tremendous level in Greensboro, which gave us our highest finish ever. I think our sprinters are ready to perform at that next level and improve even more than they did at the Regional.
"If they can adjust and perform at this high level than we should have the best finish ever at a National Championship," said Terrelonge. "I'm excited and confident that our sprinters are going to break through and have a great competitive drive this week."
Freshman All-American, Victoria Flowers, will be the third UConn student-athlete to compete in field competition as she will represent the Huskies in the hammer throw. At the Regionals, she placed 12th with a personal record of 59.55 meters (195' 4") and is now ranked 19th out of 27 qualifiers. She is the only freshman in the country to make the National Championship in the hammer this season, while she was tagged with All-American status during indoor competition with a seventh place finish in the 20-lb weight throw at the National Championship.
"It's interesting how our outdoor season has evolved as we transitioned from the indoor season where we won a second consecutive BIG EAST Championship," said head coach Bill Morgan. "This team was impressive as they were runner-up at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship and made a back-to-back championship out of the ECAC meet. Yet the signature of this group has to be the finish at the East Regional.
"The seven women we have competing this week have been our champions and I am certain they will look at this moment with pride and great satisfaction. As a collegian, this is the moment student-athletes work hard all year for. This is it."
The University of Arkansas and CBS College Sports TV have teamed up and will stream portions of the championship event beginning on Wednesday. Fans can access the video here or log onto NCAA.com for more information.
Players Mentioned
