Women's Track & Field qualifies for finals in several events
Feb. 25, 2012
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - The first day of the Big 12 Championships didn't produce a lot of points for the Texas Women's Track & Field team but performances in the preliminary rounds have set them up for Saturday's finals. The Longhorns had two or three runners qualify in most of the spring and middle distance events. In the 200m dash and 400m dash, there will be three Longhorns in the finals. Allison Peter had the fourth fastest 200m (23.39) and was followed by Christy Udoh in fifth and Chalonda Goodman in eighth. Qualifying for the 400m finals were Briana Nelson (3rd), Alicia Peterson (6th) and Stacey-Ann Smith (8th). Peter and Udoh will also run in the 60m finals on Saturday. Kendra Chambers had a great run in the 600y event with a 1:20.94, the second fastest run in stadium history. Her run would have broken the record had Iowa State's Kianna Elahi not run faster on Friday. Danielle Dowie also will be in the finals. Marielle Hall took fourth in the mile prelims with a time of 4:48.52. The top finisher for UT in a finals event Friday was A'Lexus Brannon who earned six team points with third place in the long jump. She made the finals of the event and had a top mark of 6.01m. "I wanted a win but I am happy I was able to get third to get some points on the board for the team," said Brannon. "I just wanted to come in and focus on the team and what the team wanted to do. I am glad we have a lot of support from our teammates and the Texas fans." Sara Sutherland was just shy of a NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 5000m run as she finished fourth with a time of 15:59.75. The championships got underway at 11 a.m. with the start of the women's pentathlon. Texas' lone representative in the event was Beverly Owoyele and she finished 13th. She had the winning jump of 5-8.50 in the high jump, her best of five events. The first points in the meet for UT came from Jessica Doyle in the pole vault. She cleared 12-3.50 to tie for sixth overall and gain two points for the Longhorns. Texas stands in eighth place with 14 points after the first day of competition. Saturday's action will begin at 3 p.m. with the fifth of seven heptathlon events, the women's shot put and men's and women's high jump.
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