University of Connecticut Athletics
Toppin Becomes A Four-Time All-American; Toney Places 17th
6/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Toppin Becomes A Four-Time All-American; Toney Places 17th
June 3, 2001
Eugene, OR - On Saturday night, Tamika Toppin (Sr., South Plainfield, NJ) made history as she became the University of Connecticut's first-ever four- time All-American in women's track and field with a runner-up showing in the high jump at the 2001 Outdoor National Championship in Eugene, OR. Her height of 6' 0 1/2" finished second to that of Harvard's Dora Gyorffy, who cleared 6' 2 3/4". Also garnering All- America status was freshman Nicole Toney (West Hartford, CT) who went 39' 11 1/2" in the triple jump for a 17th place finish.
Toppin, whose 5' 11 1/2" at the BIG EAST Championship gave her the conference title and qualified her for nationals, is one of six athletes who combined have attained All-America status a total of 13 times for UConn.
"I think it's great that I was able to finish where I did," stated Toppin. "My goal was to clear the first three heights with my first attempts and try to finish inside the top five. We worked a lot on my approach and three days ago we changed it by taking two steps out, which put me in a position to use more power. The finish was how I thought it would go. You looked at the list to see when people qualified and I've been on a roll and in a zone since the indoor season."
Toppin first attained the status as a freshman placing 12th at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor National Championship with a 5' 9 3/4". A year later Toppin would repeat the effort, this time at the 1999 NCAA Indoor National Championship with a jump of 5' 10", which placed 10th. Last season at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor National Championship, Toppin cleared 5' 9 3/4" duplicating the 10th place performance.
On Friday, Toney became an All-American with her efforts in the triple jump as she was the only freshman to compete in the event.
It was at the Penn Relays that Toney qualified for nationals with a distance of 42' 9". In doing so, she finished second at the meet and bettered the school record of 41' 10", which she had set at her first- ever collegiate outdoor competition.
