The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Clemson Relays
UAB Comes On Strong In Second Day Of Clemson Relays
3/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
March 26, 2005
CLEMSON, S.C. --- The UAB track and field team closed out the Clemson Relays, hosted by Clemson University, on Saturday with an impressive team performance that included four first-place finishes. The Blazers had a total of 13 top-five finishes overall and set two new school records, despite missing a few runners.
The relay teams took six top-three finishes, including two victories. Several of the relay teams saw some shake-ups because of injuries and illness, but the Blazers still ran well. The 4x800-meter relay team of senior Elace Minnifield, freshman Shauntel Jennings, sophomore Genoah Collins and freshman Christi Walton took first place with a time of 9:12.54 and broke the UAB record set in 1987. The distance medley relay team of sophomore Elizabeth Ambrus, Minnifield, Collins and freshman Whitney Mays also took first with at time of 11:59.16. The Blazers' 4x1500-meter team of sophomore Ryanne Fortney, Collins, Mays and Walton took second with a time of 19:26.11.
"We had some people hurt, a couple people under the weather and we had to make some substitutions on relays," said head coach Ray Stanfield. "I think overall we did pretty well. We ran everyone pretty hard with spring break coming up this week. We were up against some tough competition and we were able to compete well against them. Overall it was a good meet. Genoah ran the 4x1500 and she really had a really great leg. Christi and Shauntel, as freshman both ran well. This was probably Christi's best meet as a Blazer. Whitney ran a great anchor leg in the DMR. We had some really strong performances from some of our freshman and overall I was very pleased with what the girls did today."
The UAB foursome of freshman Erika Russ, sophomores Stephanie McCauley and Oriana Carter and freshman Tara Colvin took second in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.05. The Blazers also had third place finishes from the 4x200-meter relay team of sophomore Erin Harris, McCauley, sophomore Penny Shields and Colvin and from the 4x400-meter team of Jennings, senior Adrienne Duke, Colvin and Walton.
Carter and Ambrus each took individual titles in their respective events. Carter won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.86. Ambrus, the UAB indoor record holder in the 5000 meters, set the school outdoor record in the 5000 meters with a mark of 17:06.43.
"Oriana won the 100 meters but she might have strained a hamstring toward the end, so we're going to be really careful with that," Stanfield said. "She ran very well today, especially in that event. She came out strong, but at the very end she might have tweaked something. We're going to pay close attention to that right now. It was a really good day for Elizabeth Ambrus, too. She ran pretty much all alone today in the 5000 meters, but she ran well and was able to set a school record. She also had a great leg in the distance medley relay."
Sophomore Jennifer Thompson took second in the 5000 meters with a time of 18:21.23 while McCauley took fourth in the 100-meter dash with a 12:07. Duke took second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.92 with Russ in fifth with a 1:06.34. The Blazers also received a strong performance on the field-event side from Harris, who took fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 11.88 meters.
UAB will take a few days off for spring break before heading to Troy, Ala. on April 2.
