The Auburn Track and Field Teams entered day one of the NCAA Outdoor Finals Wednesday at Hayward Field, commonly referred to as Track Town USA, in Eugene, Oregon, with strong performances from individual athletes and relay teams.
"I was very pleased with how we performed the opening day of the championship," said Head Coach Ralph Spry.
The Tigers advanced to the finals in each of the five preliminary running events in which they competed. These events included the women's 400 and 100 meter dashes, the women's 400 meter relay, the men's 100 meter dash and the men's 400 meter relay.
Junior Joanna Atkins is seeded first for the finals after running the women's 400 meter dash in 51.88 seconds during the preliminaries. She will race to defend her title as the NCAA Outdoor Champion Saturday.
Sophomore Marcus Rowland qualified for finals in the men's 100 meter dash, posting a time of 10.18 seconds, the fourth fastest during the preliminaries, despite trouble with his start.
"I'm just happy I made it to the finals," Rowland said. "If I'd had a better start, I would have had a better race."
Junior Shaniqua Ferguson ran the women's 100 meter dash in 11.35 seconds, qualifying for finals seeded fifth.
Both the men's and women's 400 meter relay team qualified for finals on Saturday.
The women's team that consisted of senior Shaquela Williams, Joanna Atkins, Shaniqua Ferguson, and sophomore Nivea Smith, clocked in at 44.10 seconds and qualified sixth.
Senior Stephen Fly, sophomore Harry Adams, junior Michael DeHaven, and Marcus Rowland ran the men's relay in 39.18 seconds and qualified fifth.
"We came in not knowing for sure if we'd make it to the finals in our event, but we did what we had to do and we represented," Rowland said.
Freshman Maya Pressley, competed in the women's high jump in the finals and reached 5'9.25", placing tenth.
"All and all I think I came out and had a good freshman year," Pressley said.
Rowland said he enjoys competing in Oregon, despite that the weather is colder and it rains often.
Both Rowland and Pressley agree that the atmosphere at Hayward field is very positive. They said they appreciate that the audience cheers competitors on.
Friday's events will be broadcast on CBS College Sports Network and Saturday's will be on CBS.
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