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UF track tallies 12 All-America honors


Special to The Sun



Published: Friday, June 13, 2008 at 6:01 a.m.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The University of Florida men’s and women’s track and field teams turned it up a notch on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, combining to score in six events, earning 12 All-America honors in the process before a crowd of 11,228 at Drake Stadium.
The women’s team is in sixth place through 11 events with 16 points, while the men sit in ninth place through 13 events with 15 points.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships conclude today with Florida holding six scoring opportunities — three on each side. CBS will broadcast final day action live from 4-6 p.m.
As action got underway on the track, the women’s 4x100-meter relay came up with its best finish since 2002, placing fourth with a season-best time of 43.61 seconds. The Florida quartet of Abigail David, Lakecia Ealey, Dominique McLeggan and Natalie Knight were edged by Baylor for third.
Ealey returned to the track 90 minutes later and finished third in the 100-meter dash final, matching the best finish ever by a UF women’s athlete in the event. Ealey crossed the line in 11.35, matching Kisha Jett (1996) and Michelle Freeman (1992) who both finished third in the 100 final. Ealey also became the first Florida woman to earn All-America honors in the event since Jett in 1998.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay finished third and ran the fourth-fastest time in school history, as the foursome of Chris Rainey, Terrell Wilks, Jeremy Hall and Calvin Smith clocked a time of 38.84.
Hall also finished sixth in the 100-meter final in a time of 10.36.
Smith returned to the track and advanced to the 400-meter dash final, finishing third in his heat in a time of 45.64.
Rebecca Lowe closed out Florida’s night on the track by becoming its first All-American in the 5,000-meter run since 1990, finishing fifth by lowering her personal best time by nearly 24 seconds. Lowe posted the second-fastest time in school history, running a time of 15:50.73.
Adam Montague became UF’s first All-American in the javelin since Derek Trafas in 1995, coming up with a throw of 244 feet 10 inches on his fourth attempt.
Wes Stockbarger finished 12th in the discus, posting a throw of 174-11 on his first attempt, but fouling on his next two efforts, failing to advance to the final round.
Shara Proctor just missed advancing to the final of the women’s triple jump, finishing 13th, missing the finals by one position.
In other action on the track, Kallinka Pitt finished eighth in his heat of the 110-meter hurdles semifinals and did not advance to the final, running a time of 14.04.
LSU sprinters Richard Thompson and Kelly-Ann Baptiste won the men’s and women’s 100 meters.
Thompson eased to victory in 10.12, followed by Travis Padgett at 10.16. Baptiste earned her long-awaited NCAA 100 crown, bursting ahead over the last 40 meters to win in 11.20.