March 11, 2005
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Junior Chaunte Howard tied her own school record in the high jump with a clear of 6’3.50″ to win her second consecutive indoor national title, third overall, to lead Georgia Tech at the 2005 Indoor NCAA Track & Field Championships on Friday night.
“It feels just as good as the first one,” said Howard on winning her third national title. “I was jumping first and knew that I had to set the standard. It was a height I was comfortable with, because I’ve cleared it before.”
Howard, a native of Riverside, Calif., and Southern Methodist’s Gaelle Niare both cleared the bar at 6’3.50″, but Howard won the title after clearing the bar on her second attempt, while Niare needed three tries. Howard becomes the first Tech athlete to win three straight national titles in any single event.
“We’re very excited for Chaunte,” said head women’s coach Alan Drosky. “It was an intense competition with her and the girl from SMU [Gaelle Niare], which made it all the more exciting.”
Senior Montrell Person posted a time of 7.78 in the preliminaries of the men’s 60-meter high hurdles to advance to the finals. The Merriville, Ind., native finished seventh with a time of 7.85, earning All-America honors at the indoor NCAA meet for the first time in his career.
Dana Rogers, a senior from East Point, Ga., tallied a 12th-place finish in the women’s 60m hurdles with a time of 8.27.
Sophomore Ashlee Kidd just missed qualifying for the finals in the women’s 400 meters, finishing in ninth place overall. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native clocked an indoor personal-record time of 53.25.
The indoor national championship meet will conclude on Saturday, March 12. The Yellow Jackets will not have any athletes running on the final day of competition.
-GT TRACK & FIELD-
