University of North Carolina Athletics
Schmidt Repeats as NCAA 800 Meter Champion
June 14, 2003 | Track & Field
Schmidt won in 2:01.16, a UNC record. She beat the previous Tar Heel record, which was 2:02.5 by Monique Hennagan in 1996.
Schmidt edged LSU's Neisha Bernard-Thomas, who ran 2:01.75 and Butler's Becky Lyne, who ran 2:01.76. Lyne had posted the fastest time in the qualifying and semfinal rounds.
Schmidt becomes the first Carolina track and field athlete to win two NCAA titles in the same event. Shalane Flanagan, already a two-time NCAA individual events champion this year, placed second in the 5000 meters. Stanford's Lauren Fleshman won the event in 15:24.06. Flanagan, a junior from Marblehead, Mass., won the NCAA cross country title in November 2002 and the indoor 3000 meters in March 2003.
Laura Gerraughty also was second in the shot put behind Nebraska's Becky Breisch. Gerraughty put the shot 57-10 1/4, five inches shy of Breisch's mark.
Vikas Gowda, Adam Shunk and Gerraughty earned All-America honors.
Gowda, a sophomore, finished fifth in the men's discus with a throw of 191-10. SMU's Hannes Hopley won the event at 20-11.
Adam Shunk, the 2003 NCAA indoor champion, placed sixth tonight in the high jump with a clearance of 7-3 1/4. Southern California's David Jaworski won the high jump at 7-5 3/4.
Gerraughty, a sophomore from Nashua, N.H., was seventh in the hammer with a throw of 201-2. Candice Scott of Florida won with a toss of 229-0.
With one event remaining, the Tar Heels are in seventh place in the women's competition with 30 points. UNC does not a team in the finals of the 4x400 relay.
