Autenreith Ties for 6th at NCAA Track Championships
5/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
May 30, 2001
EUGENE, Ore. -- Jim Autenreith became the first Baylor athlete to earn all-America honors in the pole vault since 1997 here Wednesday in first-day action of the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Oregon at Hayward Field. The junior cleared 5.30 meters (17-4 ?) on his first attempt, and that clearance held up for a sixth-place tie with Brad Tyler of Arkansas.
"I felt if I could clear my first attempt at 5.30 I would be an all-American," Autenreith said. "It was important for me to clear on the first attempt. You just always put yourself in a better position at a big meet like this if you do that."
Autenreith came into the championships ranked 12th in the nation with a season-best clearance of 5.35 meters two weeks ago to finish second at the Big 12 meet. However, several athletes ranked higher than Autenreith, including national leader Brian Hunter of Texas, failed to post a height. Autenreith narrowly missed on his final of three attempts at 5.45 meters (17-10 ?).
"As far as my vaulting, I wasn't pleased," Autenreith said. "My technique was just beginning to come around, but I let it get away from me at 5.45. Still it's good to be an all-American. I didn't have the sixth-best height coming in, so my goal was to be consistent. I'm comfortable now at 5.30, 5.35, next year the goal will be to get more consistent at higher heights."
Meanwhile, all three of Baylor's intermediate hurdlers advanced to the finals. 1999 National Champion and 2000 national runner-up Bayano Kamani turned in the only sub-50-second time of the men's semifinals. The national leader for the year, Kamani won his heat at 49.93 seconds. Teammate Michael Smith, who finished eighth last year, had the fifth-fastest mark in the semifinals at 50.26 seconds, his third-fastest time of the season.
On the women's side, junior Chava Demart continued her outstanding run with a time of 57.774 seconds, the sixth-fastest mark in the semifinals. Allison Beckford of Rice had the fastest time at 56.39. Demart entered the championships ranked eighth nationally.
Floyd Thompson ran 1:48.45 in the semifinals of the men's 800 meters to advance as the eighth-fastest athlete. His time was five tenths of a second faster than Rice freshman Adam Davis and 13 hundredths of a second faster than middle-distance star Gabe Jennings of Stanford. Thompson, a senior, entered the championships ranked 10th nationally.
In the women's 4x100-meter relay, Baylor missed advancing to the finals by only 11 hundredths of a second. Ssereta Lafayette, Chava Demart, Keisa Brown and Barbara Petrahn finished with the ninth-fastest time of the semifinals at 44.60 seconds. Indiana, the eighth and final qualifier, ran 44.49 seconds. Baylor had entered the NCAAs ranked 10th in the event.
Lafayette failed to advance in the semifinals of the women's 200 meters, her time of 23.27 seconds was just five hundredths of a second off her season-best mark. She was 15th over all and the fastest among Big 12 athletes. Brandon Couts also failed to reach the finals in the men's 200 meters. His time of 20.72 seconds was 13th in the semifinals, where Justin Gatlin of Tennessee ran the world's fastest time under any conditions this year at 19.86 seconds.
"We really did well in all areas," Baylor head coach Clyde Hart said. "I'm very proud of Jim (Autenreith). To be injured earlier in the year and then come back to be an all-American - that is impressive. He did well with what he had to work. We were really caught in a trap with Brandon (Couts) in the 200. That's not his first event and he was on the outside. He was so close to not being invited in the 400, that we had to declare him in the 200 just to make sure he would be here."
The championships will continue here Thursday, Baylor's first action will be at 5:10 p.m. PDT as Petrahn will compete in the semifinals of the women's 400 meters. Also in action for Baylor on the second of four days of competition will be Couts and Zsolt Szeglet in the men's 400-meter semifinals, and both the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams in the semifinals.
