Woods Ninth in Visa 200m at AT&T USA Outdoor Track Championships
June 25, 2006
Indianapolis - Charlotte 49ers junior Shareese Woods finished ninth overall in the Visa Women's 200-meter dash on Sunday afternoon at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Woods was the fourth collegiate finisher in a field that included some of the world's best 200-meter runners.
After a lengthy rain delay held up the meet, the Championships finally got underway on a wet track at IUPUI's IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium. The race, which was scheduled for 2:20 p.m., got underway after 5 o'clock.
Woods narrowly missed out in a spot in the 200-meter USATF Championship race, getting edged out at the line by 2005 World 200 Champion Allyson Felix for the final qualifying spot.
Running live on ESPN2, Woods was in heat two, lane 7, while Felix was in lane 6. Coming down the backstretch, Woods closed on Felix but was edged out by two one-hundredths of a second at the line.
Woods finished in ninth place overall with a time of 23.15 into a slight headwind. Felix finished at 23.13.
There were 13 competitors overall in two heats, with the top four finishers in each heat automatically advancing to the final. Woods had the best time of any non-qualifier.
LaTasha Jenkins had the best time overall (22.50), followed by Rachelle Boone-Smith (22.58), Ebonie Floyd (22.63), Shalonda Solomon (23.01), LaShaunte'a Moore (23.01), Connie Moore (23.04), Janice Davis (23.09), Felix (23.13) and Woods (23.15).
Woods finished ahead of Cleo Tyson of Tennessee (23.22), Latasha Kerr of Texas (23.35), 2005 USA Indoor 60m Champion Angela Daigle-Bowen (23.38), and Kandace Tucker of Baylor (23.56).
On Saturday in the preliminary round, Woods broke the school's record in the 200 with a time of 22.95, the first-ever non-wind-aided time under 23 seconds by a Charlotte student-athlete.
Woods' season, which was highlighted by a sixth place finish at the NCAA Championships two weekends ago, isn't likely over just yet. She has spoken with USATF officials and they indicated that she would be in the relay pool for the U.S. team that will be competing at the NACAC Under 23 Track & Field Championships July 7-9 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
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Charlotte49ers.com will have more details on Woods' entry in the NACAC Under 23 Championships as it becomes available. The North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) competition consists of 31 different countries from the Western Hemisphere that are members of the association.
The 49ers had a successful week at the 2006 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and the 2006 Finish Line USA Junior Outdoor Track Championships here in Indianapolis.
Woods was ninth in the 200 and finished 24th in the 100. Teammate Courtney Patterson was 21st in the 100, while first-year collegian Lamarra Currie finished 17th in the junior women's 100. Fellow freshman Chase Eckard earned Junior All-American honors in the 800-meter run with a seventh-place finish, and also posted a 14th-place showing in the junior men's 1,500-meter run.
