Women's Track & Field finishes 11th at NCAA Outdoor Championships
June 9, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa -- On the final day of competition at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Texas picked up seven more points to total 20 and finish in 11th place on the weekend. The Longhorns' 4x400m relay team of Angele Cooper, Danielle Dowie, Briana Nelson and Kendra Chambers earned a fifth place finish in the event finals in the last race of the day. Cooper and Dowie ran strong first and second legs, but confusion at the handoff between Dowie and Nelson slowed the exchange slightly. Several teams were wearing all white and Dowie had a hard time finding her teammate. But Nelson and Chambers made up ground in the second half of the race for a time of 3:30.31, the team's second fastest time of the season. "It just showed us once again how much better we could have done and how good we are to run that fast time in the circumstances," Dowie said of the exchange between her and Nelson. "It was still a good meet, we're still happy and we're going home All-Americans so that's a good feeling." Christy Udoh began the day for Texas, running in the 200m dash finals. The runners all day faced a stiff wind on the straightaway that slowed the times for the event finals across the board. Udoh still finished in 23.45 to earn sixth place, three team points and her first All-America honor. "We ran into a headwind and it felt like I was running trying to push a brick wall, so it was pretty intense," Udoh said. "But I was just telling myself to fight through it because I'm not only going through it, there are seven other people going through it too. The race didn't go as planned, but it only leaves room for me to grow throughout the rest of my collegiate years." In the 5,000m run, Sara Sutherland made her debut at Outdoor Nationals as a Longhorn. She placed fifth in the event at NCAA Indoors. She was among the top 10 runners in the lead pack throughout the race until the pace quickened with three laps to go. She crossed the finish line with a time of 16:48.94 for 15th place. This marks the end of the 2012 season for Texas, but several members of the team will travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials that will take place June 21-July 1. Results: Saturday, June 9 5000m Run 4x400m Relay
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