FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2012 – MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT: Zach Lawson (zlawson@uark.edu)

 

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Trio of Razorbacks earn SEC accolades

 

            FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Freshman Dominique Scott and senior Tara Diebold have been recognized by the Southeastern Conference with Friday’s release of the 2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards. Scott was voted the SEC Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year, while Diebold was named the SEC Co-Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Earlier this week, Whitney Jones was named to the SEC Community Service Team for track and field.

            Scott was the SEC runner-up at 10,000 meters on day two of the SEC Championships. She followed that with a third-place showing at 5,000 meters on the final day of the meet. The Cape Town, South Africa, native scored 14 points, individually, and was the highest-scoring freshman at the meet. Scott owns the top freshman times in the conference in both long-distance events. During the course of the outdoor season, she was twice named the SEC Freshman of the Week.

            “Her progress has developed 180 degrees,” head coach Lance Harter said. “From the time she got here until now, she has really figured it out. Her cross country season was solid, indoor season was much better and now she’s just exploded outdoors. To grab second at the SEC meet at 10,000 meters and then turn around to get a top-three (finish) at 5,000 meters, is remarkable for a freshman. She reminds me of a (runner) we had way back named Amy Yoder. And Amy turned out to be an Olympian, eventually.”

            During the 2012 season, Diebold earned the fourth All-America honor of her career following her showing at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. She was the conference runner-up at the SEC indoor meet in February with a career-best clearance of 4.37m/14-4. Diebold is currently ranked fourth in the conference in the pole vault. Academically, the Branson, Mo., native maintains a 4.00 grade-point average during graduate studies in communication disorders. Diebold is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American.

            Jones is a three-year member of the University of Arkansas’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and is involved in several outreach programs serving Northwest Arkansas. On the track, Jones finished in sixth place at 400 meters at the SEC Championships. She also helped Arkansas’ 4x100 relay to a third-place finish and 4x400 relay to a runner-up performance.

Arkansas’ outdoor season continues May 24-26 with the NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas. The NCAA Championships will then be contested June 6-9 in Des Moines, Iowa. For more information regarding Razorback track and field or University of Arkansas athletics, please visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

 

2012 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Awards

Women’s Coach of the Year: Dennis Shaver, LSU

Co-Women’s Runner of the Year: Genevieve LaCase, Florida; Kimberlyn Duncan, LSU

Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Annie Alexander, Tennessee

Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year: Dominique Scott, Arkansas

Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year: Morgann Leleux, Georgia

Co-Women’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Ellen Wortham, Tennessee; Tara Diebold, Arkansas

 

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