Clarke & Williams Earn All-America Honors At NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships

March 9, 2002

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (www.hurricanesports.com) – Senior Kareen Clarke (Lithonic, GA) and freshman Lauryn Williams (Rochester, PA) earned All-America honors Saturday in the final day of competition for the University of Miami women’s track and field team at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Clarke earned the fourth All-America citation of her Miami career with a third-place finish in the triple jump while Williams placed seventh in the 60-meter dash to earn the honor. The performances by Clarke and Williams, combined with a 10th-place long jump finish by Gina Harris on Friday, gave the Hurricanes three individual All-Americans at this year’s championships.

Clarke, the most accomplished jumper in Miami history, raised her own school record in the triple jump with a leap of 44 feet, 5 Ľ inches (13.54 meters) to finish third in the event. LSU’s Nicole Toney won the triple jump with a leap of 45 feet Ľ inch (13.72 meters).

“Kareen has always been at her best in the big meets and it wasn’t any different tonight,” said UM head coach Amy Deem. “When you compete at this meet against the best there is, you can’t ask for anything more than what she produced tonight.”

Competing in her first NCAA meet, Williams placed seventh in a tightly packed field in the 60-meter dash. The UM record holder’s time of 7.39 seconds is the second fastest in Miami history behind her best of 7.35 seconds set earlier this season. Williams now owns the six fastest 60-meter dash performances in UM women’s indoor history. USC’s Angela Williams won the race with a time of 7.13 seconds.