The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Texas claims NCAA Women's Track and Field Outdoor Championship
06.12.2005 | XC: Women_Old, Track & Field / Cross Country
-
-
-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Texas women's track and field team claimed their fourth NCAA Outdoor Championship with 55 points on Saturday. The Longhorns won national championships in both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, while sophomore Marshevet Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) took the title in the 100 meter-dash.
"This is as sweet, if not sweeter, than the titles we won in 1998 and '99," said Texas women's head coach Bev Kearney. "With the personal things that I had to overcome and the losses we suffered a year ago, and coming here with only seven people, knowing that we had very little room for error. We just kept believing it was possible."
The Longhorns trailed UCLA by three points and were five points ahead of South Carolina heading into the 4x400-meter relay, the final event of the meet. The relay started with junior Sheretta Jones (Houston, Texas) staying even with the field. She handed off to classmate Melaine Walker (Kingston, Jamaica). LaTashia Kerr (Houston, Texas) ran her best split of the season on the third leg to put the Longhorns in the lead and then sophomore Jerrika Chapple (Lancaster, Texas) helped win the event in 3:27.13 and clinch the national title for Texas. UCLA did not have a team in the mile relay, while South Carolina ended up second in the event. They tied for second with 48 points.
Chapple got the day started off by finishing eighth in the 400 meters with a time of 52.25 to earn a point for the Longhorns. Then, Walker added five points with a fourth-place finish (55.32) in the 400-meter hurdles. Sophomore Michelle Carter (Ovilla, Texas) gave Texas another eight points with a second-place finish in the shot put. She ended up with a throw of 55-11.75.
Earlier in the meet, sophomore Marshevet Hooker (San Antonio, Texas) anchored Texas' 4x100-meter relay to the national championship, blazed past the field to win the national title in the 100 meters and finished second in the long jump.
In the 4x100, Hooker took the baton from Chapple slightly behind South Carolina, but managed to move past South Carolina's anchor Shalonda Solomon for the victory in a time of 42.87, which is the third-best time in school history and the eighth-fastest all-time.
Hooker posted an 11.16 to win the 100 meters by .13 seconds over Tennessee's Cleo Tyson (11.29). USC's Alexis Weatherspoon was third in 11.35. She finished second in the long jump with a leap of 21-8. In total, she scored 20.5 points for the Longhorns.
"This is such a great feeling," said Hooker. "We fought through all the criticism and it was great to see all the hard work pay off. This is team full of fighters and I thought that showed in this meet. We all wanted it so bad and everyone came out and got the job done."
Junior Ashlee Williams (Dallas, Texas) also contributed to the Longhorns' victory by finishing sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and running the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay.
Texas head coach Bev Kearney has now won five national championships while at Texas. The Longhorns won both the indoor and outdoor championships in 1998 and '99 under her guidance.
To view the complete results at the NCAA Championships, visit .
100 Meters
1. Marshevet Hooker, 11.16 (National Champion)
-- Marshevet Hooker*, 11.33 (s) (top qualifier)
-- Marshevet Hooker*, 11.39 (p)
200 Meters
-- LaTashia Kerr, 23.90 (s)
-- LaTashia Kerr*, 23.85 (p)
400 Meters
8. Jerrika Chapple, 52.25
-- Jerrika Chapple*, 52.54 (s)
-- Jerrika Chapple*, 52.79 (p)
100-Meter Hurdles
6. Ashlee Williams, 13.32
-- Ashlee Williams*, 13.24 (s)
-- Ashlee Williams*, 13.34 (p)
400-Meter Hurdles
4. Melaine Walker, 55.32
-- Melaine Walker*, 55.32 (s) (top qualifier)
-- Melaine Walker*, 56.36 (p)
-- Sheretta Jones, 59.65 (p)
4x100-Meter Relay
1. Texas (A. Williams, M. Walker, J. Chapple, M. Hooker), 42.87 (National Champion)
-- Texas* (L. Kerr, M. Walker, J. Chapple, M. Hooker), 43.60 (p) (top qualifier)
4x400-Meter Relay
1. Texas, (S. Jones, M. Walker, L. Kerr, J. Chapple), 3:27.13 (National Champions)
-- Texas* (S. Jones, M. Walker, L. Kerr, J. Chapple), 3:30.71 (p)
Long Jump
2. Marshevet Hooker, 21-8 (6.60m)
-- Marshevet Hooker*, 20-10 (6.35m)
Shot Put
2. Michelle Carter, 55-11.75 (17.06m)
-- Michelle Carter*, 55-5.75 (16.91m) (p)
*qualified for next round
