Hall third in 400 meters as Lady Vols finish 18th

Tyson fifth in 60-meter dash, 4x400-meter relay winds up sixth Patricia Hall took third in the 400 meters, Cleo Tyson nabbed fifth in the 60 meters and the 4x400-meter relay closed the meet by snagging sixth-place honors, as the University of Tennessee women scored 13 points on the final day to finish in a tie for 18th at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center. After going scoreless on Friday, the Lady Vols bounced back and harvested points in their only three events of the second and final day. As a result, Tennessee charted its 11th top 20 NCAA Indoor finish. Texas, followed Tennessee’s 2005 team title by winning the 2006 trophy with 51 points in front of a final day crowd of 5,596, which was the second most in facility annals. Stanford placed second with 36 points, with Arizona State (30), North Carolina (29) and Georgia and Miami (27) rounding out the top five. Hall, a senior from St. Ann, Jamaica, picked up Tennessee’s first points of the meet, as she produced six for a third-place outcome in the 400-meter dash. With her clocking of 52.28 seconds, the Lady Vol finished behind Iowa’s Kineke Alexander (52.16) and Miami’s Dominique Darden (52.17) to become UT’s fourth indoor All-American in the 400m. The others were Sharrieffa Barksdale (1984), Ilrey Oliver (1984, 1985) and Dee Dee Trotter (2004). Running in the second heat of a two-section final, Hall got out well and maintained a lead for the first 350 meters before Darden made a charge that the orange-clad performer could not fend off. Alexander’s winning time in the first section held up narrowly for the victory. Hall’s placing, meanwhile, tied Trotter’s 2004 outing for the best-ever by a UT woman at NCAA Indoors. Tyson stepped into the starting blocks next and came away with a fifth-place finish in the 60-meter dash that was good for four more points. The sophomore from Huntsville, Texas, rolled down the straightaway in 7.24 and improved over a 10th-place result in 2005. Tyson’s clocking was the third-fastest in history by a Rocky Topper, following her school-record 7.20 count on Friday night in the prelims and Toyin Olupona’s previous UT best of 7.23. Had the Big Orange speedster matched her school standard of last night, the second-year performer would have been right in the mix for a national title. As it was, Marshavet Hooker of Texas edged UNLV’s Ashley Owens at the line in a photo finish with each registering a 7.20 readout. When the photo was read to 1/1000th of a second, Hooker was the winner in 7.197 over Owen’s 7.200. LSU’s Kelly Ann Baptiste was third at 7.22 and Auburn’s Kerron Stewart was fourth in 7.24 in a very tightly contested battle. The 4x400m combination put the finishing touches on the meet and a frustrating indoor campaign for the defending NCAA champion Lady Vols with a sixth-place clocking of 3:31.82. That mark, which was the third-fastest ever recorded indoors by a UT quartet, was produced by Hall, sophomore Courtney Champion (Lawrenceville, Ga.), sophomore LaTonya Loche (Bastrop, La.) and Tyson. “I wanted to come in here and try and get top ten,” UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. “We fell short. We had a near miss on a school record in the 4x4, Cleo had her second best race and Patricia took third after not even qualifying for this meet individually a year ago. “Overall, we did some good things. But, hey, you have to remember that this is a national championship caliber team and our expectations are high. I am glad that we aren’t settling on this performance. Everyone is healthy now, we’re moving forward and this indoor season is history.” The Lady Vols will turn their attention to the outdoor campaign, which begins March 24-25 at the Raleigh Relays. The University of Tennessee’s Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium will serve as the site of three meets in the coming months, including the Sea Ray Relays (April 12-15), the Knoxville Twilight (April 30) and the NCAA Mideast Regional (May 26-27). The NCAA regional serves as a qualifying meet for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which will be held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.