Guidry, 4x400-meter relay named to Division I Silver Anniversary Team
AUSTIN, Texas -- Former Texas Olympian and NCAA national champion Carlette Guidry and UT's storied 4x400-meter relay teams were named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division I Silver Anniversary Team, announced by the governing body of college coaches across the country. "For Carlette and the history of our 4x400-meter relay to be chosen, it says a lot because you are not just talking about the last five years or the last 10 years, you are talking about since its inception, since women have been apart of the NCAA," said Texas head women's track and field/cross country coach Bev Kearney. "Texas represents just a phenomenal group of 4x4's that have ever run. When you start to look at some of the teams that have put together some outstanding 4x4's, you start to realize how extraordinary it is to be recognized as a representative of all the 4x4's from all of those institutions that have ever run." This year marked the 25th season of women competing at the indoor national championships. The selection to the Silver Anniversary Team is based on performances at the NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships. The team consists of the outstanding individuals in each event as well as the top coach and most successful school over the past 25 years. "Having a 25th anniversary team is a testament to how far we've come in women's athletics," continued Kearney, who has been involved in women's athletics since her running days at Auburn in the late 1970s. "There was a time when women and men not only had separate nationals but separate organizations, and now to be recognized as a part of the greatness on the every level of the NCAA is great. It shows that 25 years may seem long but it's really a short history when you think of the history of track and field in general in our country, it's only been in the last 25 years that women have been a part of it and look at how far we have come." The Longhorns have won the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships seven times (1988, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004). Texas quartet Keasha Downer, Raasin McIntosh, Moushami Robinson and Sanya Richards set the meet record of 3:27.66 in 2003. At the time, the mark was the sixth-fastest ever run indoors with only national squads from the U.S. and Russia having run faster. It broke South Carolina's previous record of 3:30.08 by nearly three seconds and the previous UT standard of 3:30.20 set earlier in the year by the same lineup. Guidry was honored at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championship meet as she and Pittsburgh standout Trecia Smith were named the NCAA Division I Most Outstanding Student-Athletes for indoor track and field. The awards were made in conjunction with the NCAA's celebration of 25 years of women participating in NCAA championship competition. The first combined NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships were held in 1983 in Pontiac, Mich. "As far as Carlette Guidry is concerned, they just don't come any better," said Kearney. "I still remember being on an opposing team and watching Carlette Guidry almost single handedly destroy every team's dream of winning a national championship. As a freshman she stepped on the track, won the 60, won the long jump, was second in the 200 and won the 4x4. She was just amazing. That was the world, not just the college scene, but the world's introduction to Miss Guidry." "I had the pleasure of coaching Carlette (after she graduated from UT) and you can't think of a more deserving representative of the character, the fight, the poise, the finesse, and the power of what women bring into the excitement of the sprints. She's amazing," she continued. The NCAA Division I Silver Anniversary Team for indoor track and field:
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