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Thornhill Earns All-America Honors in the 10,000-Meter Run
June 12, 2003
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Baylor track and field team crowned its first All-American of the 2003 NCAA Track and Field Championships on Thursday as Debbie Thornhill finished eighth in the 10,000-meter run at Sacramento State's A.G. Spanos Sports Complex. Thornhill, a senior from Wichita Falls, Texas, clocked the second-fastest time of her career, a 33:35.72, to take eighth place in the 25-lap event, finishing her career by earning her first All-America honor. She is the fifth Baylor women's All-American in the event and the first since Sherri Smith in 1999. "I'm happy," Thornhill said. "I was nervous that the race was going to go out fast, and it was a little fast, but not too bad. I'm happy that I was able to stay where I was. I wish I could have run a personal-best time, but at the end I did what I could do. I'm excited and I'm incredibly blessed. It's a tough race to run both physically and mentally and not many can do it. Finishing my career as an All-American is perfect." "Debbie finishing eighth to be an All-American is tremendous," head coach Clyde Hart said. "We had some good things happen today, and we're just taking it one day at a time."
Darold Williamson won his preliminary heat in the 400. Clocking a 46.07, he advanced to the semifinals on Friday. His preliminary time was the fifth-fastest overall. Later in the night, he anchored the 4x400 relay to the finals. Williamson teamed with Jeremy Wariner, Jamen Saziru and Brian McDonald to advance to the finals in the event, winning their heat with a time of 3:04.12. They qualified with the second-fastest time overall. Arizona State, the only team to beat the Bears this season, did not advance to the finals.
"Darold looked good in both the 400 and the relay," Hart added. "We won the heat in both events, and that's all we can do. You never know what's going to happen." Sophomore Lakadron Ivery once again opened competition for the Bears. With a preliminary time of 23.73, she advanced to the semifinals of the 200-meter dash. She took 17th in the event with a time of 24.15 in the semifinal round. The women's 4x400 relay also ran today. With a time of 3:46.11, the quartet of Shanta Bibbs, Danielle Myricks, Elizabeth Wilson and Tiffany Wise finished 20th. The women have one point as action continues from Sacramento on Friday. School recordholder Jordan Willmann will begin with the first four events of the heptathlon. April Holliness will look for her first outdoor All-America honor when she competes in the finals of the long jump. Williamson will be the final Baylor competitor on Day Three, running in the semifinals of the 400-meter dash.
NCAA Results |
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