March 17, 2002

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The UAB women's track and field team started their outdoor season with a bang this weekend at the Snowbird Invitational hosted by Florida State.

UAB's relay teams finished second and third in the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, respectively. The 4x100 team of Theresa Smith, Doella Miller, Crystal Hunter and Normanie McKenzie finished second with a time of 47.21. North Dakota State finished out front with 46.89.

In the 4x400 relay, Miller and McKenzie were joined by Adrienne Duke and Elace Minnifield who teamed up to finish third with a time of 3:51.44. The relay team tied a school 4x400 second place record that was set in 1995 by Fincher, Christopher, Gibson and Jeffery.

Senior Merideth George shined in the high jump finishing in second place with a 1.64-meter jump. The Boaz, Ala. Product was 0.05 meters behind first-place finisher Marisa Uzoaru of Florida A&M. Duke qualified with a 1.59-meter jumped and finished tied for eighth in the event with a jump of 1.48 meters.

In the triple jump, freshman Judy Shepherd finished with a 11.69-meter jump, good enough for a third place finish,behind North Dakota's Amanda Thieschafer and Arkansas State's Ashley Hogg.

In the 100-meter hurdles, Smith finihsed in fifth place, with a 14.70 run. Shepherd was close behind with a time of 14.92, putting her in sixth.

UAB's Hunter finished fifth in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the 200-meter dash. The Mobile, Ala. native ran a 12.28 in the 100 and 25.64 in the 200, respectively. Freshman Anna Parker finished the 100-meter event with a time of 13.56 and 28.17 in the 200-meter dash for the Blazers.

In the 400-meter dash, two Blazers finished in the top-ten. McKenzie, a freshman from Powder Springs, Ga. finished eighth with a time of 57.33, while Miller, a junior from Batesville, Miss. Finished 10th with a time of 58.18. Also for the Blazers, Minnifield finished the event in 17th with a 59.29, Donna Pucke ran a 60.22 for a 20th place finish and Karen Werner rounded the event out for the Blazers with a time of 60.87.

The Blazers will compete again on March 21-24 at the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa, Ala.