June 15, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The 10th-place University of Tennessee women's track & field team had eight student-athletes earn nine total All-America honors at the recent NCAA Outdoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) has announced.

Those earning distinction were seniors Sarah Bowman and Celriece Law, juniors Lynne Layne and Phoebe Wright, sophomore Annie Alexander, and freshmen Ashley Harris, Chanelle Price and Ellen Wortham.

One Lady Vol picked up a pair of honors at the meet. Law closed out her collegiate career by snaring All-America accolades in the 100-meter hurdles and with the 4x100m relay. Law, who finished fifth in the hurdles in 13.21 and ran the opening leg on UT's seventh-place relay unit, wrapped up her stay at UT with seven All-America certificates.

Joining Law on that relay were Layne, Harris and Wortham. Layne, who anchored the tandem, collected the fifth award of her career. Harris and Wortham each earned their first.

Bowman, meanwhile, garnered acclaim for her fourth-place effort of 4:14.27 in the 1500 meters. With that result, she racked up track & field A-A citation number nine and her 10th overall award after garnering her first cross country national recognition during the fall.

Alexander picked up her second award of the season and her career, matching her NCAA Indoor finish of third with the same result outdoors in the shot put. She did so with a mark of 54-6 1/2.

In the 800, Tennessee had two All-Americans in Wright and Price. Wright picked up her second nod of the season and the sixth of her career by placing fifth in 2:03.57. Price, meanwhile, did not make the final but was one of the top eight American finishers and thus received acclaim. She posted a time of 2:04.30 in the semifinals that ranked her 11th in the field.

In all for 2009, counting a total of eight awards earned indoors, Tennessee merited 17 All-America certificates. A total of nine Lady Vols, including sophomore Brittany Jones indoors, attained All-America status this season.