Williams Runs Fastest Times in United States
Junior posts fastest times by an American in both the 100-meters and 200-meters.
April 10, 2004
Coral Gables, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) - Junior Lauryn Williams (Rochester, Pa.) won the 100-meters and 200-meters posting the fastest time by an American this season in both events to highlight Saturday’s action at the Miami Gatorade Track and Field Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla.
Williams, who won gold medals in the 100-meters and 4x100-meter relay at last summer’s Pan Am Games, posted an American and Collegiate best mark of 11.01 seconds to run away with the victory in the 100-meters.
She came back an hour later to cruise to an easy win in the 200-meters with a time of 22.46 seconds. Her 200-meter time was also an American and Collegiate best. In addition, both her winning times were school, stadium and meet records.
“I planned on running fast today,” said Williams, whose 100-meter time broke the meet record of 11.20 set by Evelyn Ashford in 1988. “It was a home meet and I was excited to go up against Muna Lee (LSU). Muna ended up not running in either race but the thought of going up against her helped my mental preparation.”
Williams admitted she struggled with practice this week which gives her added confidence heading into the remainder of the season.
“If I can run this fast after struggling with practice all week, there is no telling how fast I can run when I put it all together.”
Sophomore Dominique Darden (Harrisburg, Pa.) won the 400-meter hurdles with an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 57.97 seconds. Darden’s time is the sixth fastest by a collegian this season.
In the long jump UM freshman Tabia Charles (Pickering, Ontario) won the long jump with an NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 6.35 meters (20-10.00). Charles is undefeated in the long jump this season (2-0) having also won at the Texas Relays last weekend.
UM junior Chinela Davis (Haverstraw, N.Y.) finished second with a leap of 6.13 meters (20-01.50) to also qualify for NCAA Regionals. Also qualifying for NCAA Regionals in the long jump were freshman Amy Seward (Virginia Beach, Va.) with a mark of 6.07 meters (19-11.00), freshman Brenda Faluade (Katy, Texas) with a jump of 6.00 meters (19-08.25) and junior Amber Williams (Succasunna, N.J.) with a leap of 5.93 meters (19-05.50).
Senior Megan Cobb (Ypsilanti, Mich.), competing in her final home meet, broke the school-record in the hammer throw with a toss of 51.16 meters (167-10.00) while senior Adrienne Moss recorded an NCAA Regional qualifying mark in the shot put with a toss of 14.51 meters (47-07.25).