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A spirit that is not afraid

Track Tigers finish 24th at NCAA Outdoor Championships

Freshman DJ Smith cleared 2.18 meters in the high jump, earning second place at the Tiger Classic. (Maria Iampietro / Associate Photo Editor)
Freshman DJ Smith cleared 2.18 meters in the high jump, earning second place at the Tiger Classic. (Maria Iampietro / Associate Photo Editor)

Seven Tigers earned All-American honors, including three first-team honors, while Auburn's men team finished tied for 24th at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
"I'm very pleased with the way this young group competed this year," Auburn head coach Ralph Spry said. "I feel like we got the right pieces of the puzzle in place because when you got freshmen that are qualifying for national championships and conference championships you can tell you got the right kind of talent that's going to be good for you the next three or four years."
True freshman Khalil Henderson (200m), senior Stephen Saenz (shot put) and senior DJ Smith (high jump) each received first-team honors.
Saenz finished fifth in the men's shot put with a best throw of 64-10.75/19.78m on the first day of the tournament and had a comeback season after missing most of the 2013 outdoor season with a torn pectoral muscle.
Henderson was the only freshman that advanced to the finals on the second day of the men's 200m after running a 20.77 and finishing third in his heat.
Smith finished sixth in the men's high jump with a season-best height of 7-2\0xBD (2.20m) on the third day.
Henderson finished with a personal-best time of 20.61, good enough for sixth place in the men's 200m sprint on the final day at the Championships.
"To do your personal-best any time is great, but to do it on that national stage is incredible for young athletes," Spry said.
His sixth-place finish was the best by an Auburn athlete in the 200m since 2012 and the fifth time in the last six years a Tiger has been in the finals of the event.
The men finished the meet with 10 points tying for 24th place overall, the program's 10th top 25 finish in the last 15 years.
"We got a lot of young talent and I just feel good about the direction things are going right now, Spry said."
Earning second-team All-America honors were Justin Carter, Rachel Dincoff, Valentina Muzaric, and Samantha Scarlett.
Carter finished 13th in the men's javelin with a mark of 215-8 (65.75m) on Saturday.
Muzaric and Dincoff missed advancing to the finals after finishing 10th and 14th in the women's shot put.
Inexperience has been a little bit of a setback for a young Auburn group, but Spry believes those are things they will be able to work through.
"A lot of success this year has been with our young athletes, freshman and sophomores. They got the experience now and are going to be leaders next year, Spry said."


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