May 18, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After scoring 19 1/2 points for her team at the SEC Outdoor Championships, Tennessee track & field standout Celriece Law has been selected as the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week in a vote by the Lady Vol Media Relations staff.

Law, a senior from Denver, Colo., won the 100-meter hurdles, took second in the triple jump and ran the opening leg on UT's third-place 4x100-meter relay unit. She also carded a ninth-place finish in the long jump as the Big Orange women finished third in the team standings.

Her victory in the hurdles, which came in a career-best time of 13.22 seconds, gave her a clean sweep of the SEC straight hurdles crowns. She also won the indoor 60mH crown in March. Law became the first Lady Vol since LaVonna Martin in 1988 to win an SEC Outdoor 100m hurdles title. She joins Martin and Benita Fitzgerald, who went on to win Olympic silver and gold medals, respectively, as the only UT women to win the 100m hurdles at the league outdoor meet.

In the triple jump, Law posted the best finish of her career in that event. She had previously placed seventh, sixth and sixth outdoors in the triple at the league meet. On her third attempt of the competition, she uncorked a career-best leap of 42 feet, two inches to snare runner-up accolades. She ranks as the second-best triple jumper in school history, despite not having competed in that event since the SEC Indoor meet earlier this season.

Law also was instrumental in Tennessee's 4x100m relay team finishing third in a season-best time of 44.70. She ran the opening leg and joined with sophomore Brittany Jones, freshman Ashley Harris and junior Lynne Layne to provide the Lady Vols six points in that event.

Despite limited work in the long jump as well, Law nearly kicked in some points in that event. She carded a leap of 18-11 3/4 to wind up ninth, just one position out of scoring range.

Law will return to action May 29-30, as she competes with her teammates in the NCAA Mideast Regional in Louisville, Ky. She is qualified for the meet in the 100m hurdles, 100m dash, triple jump and 4x100m relay. She most likely will confine her focus toward making the NCAA Championships in the hurdles and relay.