May 17, 2003
Head Coach Curtis Frye
“We’re competing tough right now. Our kids have set some good times today and we’re in it. Our women are fighting for the top three spots right now. We’ve had some good things happen today. We are sending two women to the finals in the 400m dash and three women to the finals in the 100m dash; that’s more than expected.”
“I’m a little disappointed in our hurdles today; however, Antoinette Wilks did make the finals. We still have a lot of bullets left, we still are fighting, but we need some things to happen. On the women’s side, Florida and Arkansas are both doing really well and Florida is dominating the meet right now with their throwers.”
“We didn’t get the points we wanted in the long jump, but we’ve had some other good things happen. Erica Whipple set a personal best in the 100m dash and Aleen Bailey easily won her heat in that event.”
“Our men have had a great day. We’re sending at least three to the finals tomorrow. Corey Taylor and Kenneth Ferguson both set great marks in the hurdles today. Our men had two very good times in the 100m dash. Shamus Singletary and Adrian Durant did well and both are on our 4x100m relay team. It makes our 4x100m relay team look good when two of our runners get sub 10.50 times in the 100m dash. We’re are looking for a big day from our 4x100m relay team tomorrow.”
“William Emase had a very good 1,500m run today. He’ll be competing in the finals tomorrow. Jonathan Fortenberry and Otis Harris both made the finals of the 400m dash. Those are two good guys in the finals of that race that have a good shot of winning. Adam Bishop made the finals of the shot put and will get us some points there. We put some points on the board today.”
“Our men are doing well right now. Tennessee has had an incredible meet at home. We still have a shot at the top five, but it’s only a shot. Anything can happen when it’s only a shot, when there’s still a chance. Auburn, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, LSU, Mississippi State and South Carolina will all compete for the top five spots. This truly is the greatest conference in America.”
On Fred Townsend’s SEC record in the 110m hurdles of the decathlon: “Fred had a great run. He has run faster but not during the decathlon. Even after that performance, he is in a tough fight as the field in this decathlon is the best the SEC has seen in some time. If he can finish in the top five it was be great.”
On day two of competition: “It was a day that saw its ups and downs. We had third and fourth place finishes in the heptathlon by our women and that puts some points up on the scoreboard for us. A number of our women advanced in the 200m dash and the 400m hurdles. On the men’s side, Kenneth Ferguson had a good time that was the best of the preliminaries. Otukile Lekote is battling a calf injury, but was able to qualify for the finals in the 800m run.”
On the overall race for the championship: “We will be in a battle for the top three on the women’s side and for the top-five on the men’s side. It will be a tough road. Some people need to step up for us and work through the challenge and competition.”
