April 17, 2004

OXFORD, Miss. ----- The UAB track and field team placed third overall at the 2004 Ole Miss Invitational hosted by the University of Mississippi here on Saturday afternoon. The Blazers' Oriana Carter qualified for regionals in the 100-meters with a time of 11.73.

"This was a great meet for us," said UAB head coach Ray Stanfield. "We accomplished what we wanted to and got some outstanding performances. I'm really proud of Oriana. She ran really well today and continues to improve. We also had several athletes set personal bests."

Carter's time was good enough for second place in the 100-meters, as Shauntae Lockett finished in seventh (12.21).

The relay team won the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.17, a new season-best.

Theresa Smith finished in second place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.98. Amanda Hart was seventh in the event (15.18) and LaDedria Taylor finished in 10th place (15.68).

Penny Shields placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 11.58 meters.

In the 800-meters, Genoah Collins placed third with a time of 2:12.14, in only the second time she has competed in the event.

Hart was third overall in the 400-meter hurdles, as her time of 1:02.72 was a new personal best. Mary Kim Webb was fifth (1:08.16) and Taylor was sixth (1:08.32).

Three Blazers placed in the heptathlon. Judy Shepherd set a new personal best with 4,982 points, good for third overall. First-time heptathlon competitors, Erin Harris and Tiffany Parker finished in fourth and fifth. Harris tallied 4,185 points and Tiffany Parker collected 3,645.

UAB had six runners in the top-15 of the 1500-meters. Petra Ivanova placed second (4:40.65), Amanda Kara was in sixth (4:49.60), Elizabeth Ambrus finished eighth overall (4:52.05), Ryanne Fortney placed ninth (4:53.57), Jennifer Thompson was in 12th overall (5:00.89) and Adie Sander placed 14th (5:07.71).

In the 5000-meters, Adel Anderson was fourth with a time of 19:41.89 and Elizabeth Anderson placed in sixth with a time of 20:42.24.

In the javelin, the Blazers finished in third and fourth. Laura Strunk was third overall with a throw of 33.09 meters, while Christy Mixon was in fourth with a distance of 32.69 meters.

Strunk and Mixon also finished sixth and seventh in the shot put and discus competitions. In the shot put, Strunk recorded a throw of 9.87 meters and Mixon threw a 9.65 meters. In the discus, Strunk had a throw of 30.97 meters, while Mixon tallied a distance of 30.60 meters.

Three UAB athletes placed in the top 10 in the 400-meters. Elace Minnifield finished in fifth with a time of 57.00, Webb was seventh overall recording a 1:01.47 and Stephanie McCauley placed ninth with a time of 1:04.18.

In the 200-meters, UAB had five runners in the top-13. Stephanie McCauley was sixth (24.92), Carter placed ninth (25.53), Normanie McKenzie finished in 10th (25.53), Elace Minnifield was 11th overall (25.69) and Shields placed 13th (25.93).

Shields also finished in 13th place in the long jump with a distance of 4.79 meters.

Ole Miss won the event, followed by South Florida and UAB.