Shauna Smith Ends Season At U.S. Olympic Team Trials

Smith finishes in sixth place in the finals of the women's 400 meter hurdles.

Smith, who was seeded seventh heading into the meet, raced to a sixth place time of 54.42 seconds.
Track Home HEADLINES Seven MWC Track & Field Programs Earn USTFCCCA All-Academic Honors Sixty-One MWC Student-Athletes Receive 2009 USTFCCCA All-Academic Track & Field Honors Three MWC Student-Athletes Named to Academic All-America Track & Field and Cross Country Teams RELATED LINKS • Follow all of the college track action at CollegeSports.com • Email this to a friend

July 11, 2004

Sacramento, Calif. -- University of Wyoming's Shauna Smith ended a brilliant 2004 outdoor season Sunday with a sixth place finish in the finals of the women's 400 meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Sacramento, Calif. The junior from Sheridan, Wyo. needed to place in the top three to earn a spot on the U.S. Track and Field Team and a trip to the 2004 Summer Olympic games.

Smith, who was seeded seventh heading into the meet, raced to a sixth place time of 54.42 seconds. Her time breaks her previous UW and Mountain West Conference record in the event, 55.23 seconds, which she set Friday in the quarterfinals of the event.

"She ran a great race," said UW head track and field coach Don Yentes. "She laid it all on the line, but just came up a bit short. I couldn't be more proud of her efforts. She had great spilts on all ten hurdles and ran fantastic. This season, she cut two seconds off her record time in the 400 meter hurdles. That is simply amazing."

Sheena Johnson of Nike took the top spot with an Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex stadium record time of 52.95 seconds. Brenda Taylor, also of Nike, finished second in 53.36 seconds.

Smith ends her junior season with numerous honors. She earned NCAA All-American honors in the 400 meter hurdles and indoor 400 meter dash, All-MWC honors in the 60 and 100 meter hurdles and the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays, and also set five new Cowgirl records.

Wyoming's last competitor at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials, junior Jessica Fox, will try and earn a trip to Athens, Greece, Monday when she competes in the quarterfinals of the 400 meter dash at 8:20 p.m. (MST). The USA Network will be broadcasting live coverage of the meet Monday starting at 8:00 p.m. (MST).