University of North Carolina Athletics
Gowda, Donohue and Gordon Earn All-America Honors
June 12, 2005 | Track & Field
June 12, 2005
Results
The University of North Carolina got top-20 finishes from both its men's and women's track and field teams for the first time since 1996, and three Tar Heels earned All-America honors on the final day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Saturday in Sacramento, Calif. Vikas Gowda, Erin Donohue and Sheena Gordon each finished in the top eight in their respective events to give UNC six All-Americas for the meet. The last time both teams finished in the top 20 was 1996, when the men were fourth and the women were fifth.
Gowda, who redshirted the outdoor season in 2004, earned outdoor All-America honors for the second time in his career. His throw of 197-1 was good for second place and eight points for the Tar Heel men. Gowda led the event through four rounds before Stanford's Michael Robertson unleased a throw of 202-5 on his fifth throw to take the title. Gowda was fifth in the discus in 2003.
Donohue, running in her final collegiate race, was fourth in the 1500-meter run in 4:14.57. National leader Anne Shadle of Nebraska won in 4:11.37, besting the field by almost two seconds. Donohue was the top ACC finisher in the race, as Duke's Shannon Rowbury was eighth in 4:17.69. This was Donohue's first career outdoor All-America performance, and her fourth overall.
Gordon earned her first two career outdoor All-America honor with a seventh-place finish in the women's high jump and a ninth-place finish in the triple jump. Gordon had marks of 6-0 in the high jump and 42-11 in the triple jump. Georgia Tech's Chaunte Howard, who had not lost a high jump competition all season, was upset by Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo's Sharon Day, who cleared 6-4 to win the high jump. Gordon is the first Tar Heel jumper to win multiple All-America honors in the same outdoor meet since Nicole Gamble did so in the long and triple jumps in 1999.
The Tar Heel men finished with 14 team points, the third-best finish for an ACC school. Florida State was fourth with 34 points, while Virginia Tech was 13th with 21 points. On the women's side, Carolina finished with 12 team points. Miami was the only league rival to top that mark, as the Hurricanes were ninth with 23 points. Duke and Georgia Tech each matched the Tar Heels with 12 points.
