SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Texas collected six points from junior Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas) and seventh-place finishes from freshman Alex Anderson (Chicago, Ill.) and senior LaTashia Kerr (Houston, Texas) to finish in sixth place Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex. The Longhorns totaled 36 points to finish just behind Arizona State and Nebraska, who tied for fourth with 37 points. Auburn claimed the national title with 57 points.
Carter, the 2006 NCAA indoor shot put champion, took third in the event with a heave of 58-9.25 (17.91m) to add six points to the Texas tally. Anderson secured All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the 100 meters, clocking a time of 11.59 into a 1.2 meters-per-second headwind. Kerr, completing her final event as a collegiate, placed seventh in the 400 meters in 52.19 to cap her Longhorn career with her first individual All-America honor.
A controversial call by a meet official during the 400-meter hurdles kept Texas out of a second-place finish. Senior Melaine Walker (Kingston, Jamaica) clocked a first-place time of 53.84, which would have broken UT and NCAA meet records in the event, but an official ruled minutes after the event's conclusion that Walker's lead leg advanced around the side of the sixth hurdle and did not clear the hurdle. Video replays did not reveal an infraction, but the call was upheld after an initial Texas protest and subsequent appeal to a three-member NCAA jury of appeals were denied.
"I don't understand how they can possibly say she did not clear that hurdle," said UT coach Bev Kearney. "Melaine went out there and broke the meet record and the school record. They can't let that call stand between Melaine and a national championship. It was physically impossible for her to do what they said she did, and all of the replays showed she did nothing wrong. I just don't understand. "
With Walker's victory, Texas would have placed second with 46 points. Her time of 53.84 is the second-fastest in the world this year and would have broken Raasin McIntosh's school mark of 54.16 set in 2004.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships - Sacramento, Calif.
Day Four Texas Results
400-Meter Hurdles
- Melaine Walker - 53.84 - disqualified
Shot Put
3. Michelle Carter - 58-9.25 (17.91m)
100 Meters
7. Alex Anderson - 11.59 (wind: -1.2)
400 Meters
7. LaTashia Kerr - 52.19
