Tulane University
Pepsi Florida Relays
100 Meter Dash Highlights Florida Relays
Apr 1, 2011 | Track & Field
April 1, 2011
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane track and field program had a solid showing on the first day of the Florida Relays on Friday afternoon. Two student-athletes posted personal-best times in their respective events, while Kasey Rodgers won the Florida Relays 100-meter Dash championships in a time of 11.54.
"This (meet) had an eastern regional kind of feel," said Tulane head coach Eric Peterson. "We had teams from the North come down, like Penn State, and we had a good contingent of southern teams there, too. This gave our athletes an opportunity to mix it up with several of the best East regional teams in the area and we are coming away from the (first day) knowing that we really accomplished something today."
The duo of Kasey Rodgers and Tiffany George took the top two spots in the 100-meter dash, with each competitor posting a time under 11.60-seconds. Rodgers took her second individual crown of the spring as she crossed the finish line in 11.54-seconds. George continued her successful freshman campaign with a personal best 11.58, finishing just one, one thousandth ahead of the third place finisher, to help the Green Wave sweep the top two spots.
"Both Kasey and Tiffany benefitted from being in heats with wind at their back, but Kasey is still the 2011 Florida Relays champion," said Peterson. "That is a big title for her in this stage of her career. She was running against professionals, collegiate All-American, NCAA champions and conference champions and she came away with the title. It is a big boost to her confidence and I am really happy for her. We talked last week about the progress she has made this season and she is well deserving of the title today."
"It was also exciting to see our young freshman, Tiffany George, perform well today," Peterson said. "She has a bright future and is learning a lot day to day. She is turning into a really fine sprinter."
Rebecca Coady had a solid showing in the 1500-meter run, placing 11th overall in a race that was close throughout. The senior's time of 4:32.98 was just eight second off the pace of the event winning, Cally Macumber of Kentucky, and just seven-one hundredth of a second shy of tenth place. With her time in the event, Coady set a new career-best in the event by two seconds, besting her run at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships from last year.
"Rebecca ran the first 400-meter aggressively and really settled into a pace in the middle of the race that was a bit too slow and took her out of her rhythm," Peterson said. "I feel she lulled herself into a sluggish feeling and I think that she would agree with that. Coming away from that type of race with a lifetime best is nice and that should give her something to look towards in the future."
Jamie Riles competed in the open 400-meter competition for the first time this season and broke the tape in a time of 55.56 to finish 19th overall in the timed final. In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Zandria Debowles ran the team's fourth fastest clip of the season at 62.46 to place 28th in a competitive field of nearly 50 runners.
Later in the meet, DeBowles grabbed a 15th place finish with her second best high jump of the season. The senior cleared the opening height of 1.60-meters on her first attempt and eventually cleared the bar at 1.65-meters on her third and final attempt.
Tulane will conclude their stay in Gainesville, Fla. by running the Spring Medley Relay on Saturday morning. The team of Rodgers, George, Riles and Coady will run against a field of 26 other Division I opponents to close out the Florida Relays.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
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