Feb. 23, 2003
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HAMILTON, N.Y. - Sophomore sprinter Tiffany Martin captured first-place in both the 55- and 200-meter dashes, leading Army to a second-place finish Sunday afternoon at the Patriot League Championships. The Black Knights finished the tournament with 120 points, just ahead of Navy's total of 114.
Martin ran extremely well all day Saturday during the preliminary and semifinal heats for the 55 and 200, and turned it up another notch in the finals. The native of San Antonio, Texas blistered the opposition in the 55, crossing the tape in 7.15 seconds, which tied the meet record established by Bucknell's Tameka Hinton in 1995. Martin's time is also a new Colgate Field House record.
Teammate Emily Perez finished fourth in the 55, with a mark of 7.45.
Martin later torched the competition in the 200 (25.59), beating out four runners from eventual tournament champion Bucknell (180 points). Army's talented sophomore completed the tournament with three wins (55, 200, Long Jump), giving her a total of eight Patriot League Championships in less than two years.
"I couldn't have asked for a better performance from Tiffany," said Army associate head coach Scott Richardson. "She tied one meet record and broke another, and in my view, there wasn't a better performer out there from any other team."
Richardson was also quick to pass credit onto assistant coaches Joe Rogers and Knut Hjletnes. Rogers, who coaches the jumps and hurdles, had a number of his athletes earn a number of top-three showings, including Martin and Lauren Rowe. The Army senior copped second-place honors in the 55-hurdles (8.28) on Sunday and earned the bronze medal in Saturday's high jump competition.
Throws coach Hjletnes had an outstanding weekend as three of his female athletes captured three of the top-five spots in the shot put, and took two of the top-four spots in the weight throw. Sara Fields earned first-place honors in the shot put (45-1 3/4) and Tracey Coleman was a winner in the weight throw (52-8 1/4).
Sharonda Aplon scored the remaining points for Army's sprinters on Sunday. Aplon posted a fifth-place showing in the 400 with a new personal record of 59.12. Elise Eubanks was unable to score in the 500, however, she did record a new personal-best time of 1:17.58, which was nearly three seconds faster than her previous best.
Army's distance runners scored a bulk of Sunday's points. Freshman Jill Hajec recorded a pair of solid outings, placing fifth in the 3,000 and third in the 5,000. Classmate Ann Lee Cole earned the Black Knights six points with her third-place finish in the 1,000 and all Patriot-League cross country runner Ashley Urick earned fourth-place honors in the mile run.
Sarah Kessler-Detienne and Natalie Cahill collected the final points of the 800, as they finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Both the 4x400 (3:57.81) and distance medley relay teams (12:25.76) took third place.
The Black Knights will now focus on qualifying for the NCAA Indoor tournament. They'll have their first opportunity Saturday, March 1 when they begin competing at the Virginia Tech Qualifier in Blacksburg, Va.
Martin, Fields and a number of their teammates have already qualified for a spot at the ECAC Tournament. This three-day competition kicks off on Friday, March 7.