ut’s layne just misses spring double victory at usa junior championships

Tennessee freshman Lynne Layne came oh-so-close Friday afternoon to pulling off a sprint double victory at the Finish Line USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

After winning the 100m dash on Thursday, the Lady Vol rookie grabbed second-place honors a day later in the 200 meters at Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium.

Layne, from New Rochelle, N.Y., zoomed to the fastest half-lap time of her career, a wind-aided clocking of 22.94 seconds to chart runner-up accolades. Bianca Knight, also pushed down the track by a 2.3 meters-per-second tailwind, hit the tape at 22.93, just 1/100th of a second ahead of the Big Orange speedster. As top-two finishers, both qualified to compete for the United States in that event at the Pan American Junior Championships, July 6-8, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The UT standout had previously qualified for the 100m dash and 4x100m relay duty at the Pan Am Juniors on Thursday when she won the straight sprint in Indy. Layne, though, will most likely choose the 100 or 200 and run a leg on the relay for the red, white and blue.

“Lynne did a fantastic job at this meet,” UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said. “She came here extremely focused and ran two personal bests. She came very near to pulling off a sprint double, and I’m very proud of her efforts.”

In the prelims, Layne turned in a time of 23.79 to finish second in heat three and fourth-best of the qualifiers. Her readout in the final improved her to the fourth-fastest 200m dash sprinter in UT annals, falling in line behind Kelli White, Cleo Tyson and Sue Walton.

“She’s a very talented young lady, and I look forward to her future development as Tennessee,” Clark said.