November 14, 2005 - Mountaineers Look for Sixth-Straight SoCon Championship This Season
Boone, NC - Led by the 2005 Southern Conference Coach of the Year, John Weaver, Appalachian State University women’s indoor track and field combines youth and experience as the Mountaineers look to replace 10 departing seniors on their way to their sixth-straight SoCon Championship.
The Mountaineers lost 10 seniors who accounted for over 50 percent of their 161.8 points at the Southern Conference Championships, but return two SoCon indoor individual champions.
“The women have a challenge,” Weaver said. “I don’t believe any team can lose up to 10 senior student-athletes that contributed as much as our 10 ladies did. They won the conference championship every year they were here. We’re now facing the challenge of trying to replace them.
“We feel that with our recruiting class this year we did a good job of replacing some of that. The chances for them to do well are there, but we’re going to have to have some people step up. “
Coming off a third-place at last month’s SoCon Championships, members of the women’s cross country team look to continue their success this indoor track season. Junior Kasey Smith (Walnut Cove, N.C.) and sophomore Meghan Gaffney (Pompton Lakes, N.J.) each earned all-SoCon honors in cross country this past season, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively at the conference championships. Freshman Hannah Parks (Kernersville, N.C.) joins the strong corps of distance runners after a 13th-place finish at the league championships. Returning for the Mountaineers is senior Jennifer Kelley (Asheville, N.C.) who missed the cross country season due to injury. Last season Kelley placed second in the 10,00 meters and third in the 5,000 meters at the conference indoor championships.
“We feel like Kasey, Meghan, Hannah and Jennifer will be some of the student-athletes doing big things for us this season, Weaver said. “We have a very strong group of distance runners, who are capable of stepping up.”
Returning for the throwers are 2005 NCAA qualifying shot putter, senior Beverly Burnett (Graham, N.C.), SoCon champion shot putter, sophomore Brittani Williams (Charlotte, N.C.), all-SoCon performer, senior Kristie Boggan (Charlotte, N.C.), NCAA Regional Qualifying hammer thrower, senior Crystal Miller (Kings Mountain, N.C.) and SoCon outdoor hammer throw champion, Nikole Simmons (Charlotte, N.C.). Also adding to the veteran group of throwers is sophomore Lily Tallent (Cherryville, N.C.) who missed last season with an injury.
Burnett holds the school record in the shot put, while Williams, Simmons and Boggan hold the third, fourth and sixth best shot put performances by a Mountaineer. Boggan also holds ASU’s second-best performance in the pentathlon after scoring 3,227 points in a meet last season.
“Our throwers are going to be very, very strong for us,” Weaver said. “Brittani, Beverly, Kristie, Nikole, Crystal and Lily will all be outstanding for us this season. We have probably two or three NCAA qualifiers in that group.”
Appalachian will try and make up for the graduation of four-time Southern Conference individual champion Jennifer Claud in the sprint events. Claud earned SoCon victories in the 55-meter dash, 60-meter dash, long jump and triple jump. Picking up the load at sprints are senior Portia Taylor (Fayetteville, N.C.), freshman Porsha’ Evans-Hardy (Winston-Salem, N.C.)., and jumper/sprinter, sophomore Vonteena Knotts (Charlotte, N.C.). Taylor earned all-SoCon honors for her second place finish as a member of the 4x00-meter relay in 2005. Hardy-Evans was a four-year state qualifier at R.J. Reynolds High School, while Knotts holds ASU top-10 performances in the 60-meter dash and long jump.
“Sprint-wise, we’ll feel some of the pressure this season,” Weaver said. “We lost some solid sprinters, but will be able to count on Portia, Porsha’ and Vonteena in those events.”
Knotts will also lead the group of jumpers, where the Mountaineers lost their top-three performers from last season. Joining Knotts are triple jumpers Monica Johnson (Dallas, N.C.) and Jessica Mayela (Charlotte, N.C.)
“Where we’re going to hurt the most is the triple jump, where we had three ladies who were one-two-three in the conference for a long, long time,” Weaver said. “Hopefully, we have some solid student-athletes in freshmen Monica and Jessica. They’re freshmen who can come in and hopefully be able to catch hold of what it’s all about fairly quickly and be able to fill in some shoes there.”
The area the staff is most concerned about this coming season is the hurdles where they feel freshman Emily Wright (Millers Creek, N.C.) can make an immediate difference.
“We’re concerned about our depth in the hurdles, but we feel Emily will be able to bridge some of that gap,” Weaver said. “Emily will also be strong for us in the multi-events.”
Senior Caren Mah (Gilbert, Ariz.) will lead the pole vaulters this season. She will be joined by freshman Shea Snow (Booneville, N.C.), who set state records on her way to two state champions at Starmount High School.
“We have good leadership in Caren at the vault,” Weaver said. “Shea should do a good job of filling in. We should be able to fill that area.”
Senior Piper Taylor (Fayetteville, N.C.), sophomore Jennifer Flaherty (Raleigh, N.C.) and freshman Betsy Prewitt (Big Stone Gap, Va.) will be counted on in the mid-sprints in 2005-06.
“In our mid-sprint areas we’ve got Piper, Betsy and Jennifer,” Weaver said. “Jennifer made big progress last year and hopefully she can build on that. I feel good about who we have in our mid-sprint events.”
“With the loss of so many outstanding senior athletes, the team has a big challenge ahead of us, but it’s one we can overcome. If nothing else, I feel very comfortable that they can put in whatever it takes for us to stay at the top of the conference and hopefully we will continue our winning ways. “
December 2, 2005 - Citadel Track Begins Indoor Season Today
Charleston, SC - The Citadel men's and women's track team will open their 2005-06 indoor season today as they travel to Clemson, SC to participate in the Clemson Open beginning today and continuing through Saturday. Today's events are slated to begin at 5:00 pm while tomorrow's start will be at 11:00 am.
"We are very excited about getting the season started," commented head coach Jody Huddleston.
The women will look to some young talent this year, including freshmen Megan Jenkins and Sarah Strickland, who have already joined junior Laura Hewston in the The Citadel's cross country top-ten lists during their freshman campaigns. Huddleston will also depend on freshmen Erin Ritter, Monique Edwards, Caitlin Lincer and Teresa Dorman to lead the young Bulldog squad.
"This group will set several school records as the season progresses," said Huddleston.
The men will have a more experienced group to lean on as Thomas Cummings and Marcus Butler return for their senior year.
"Thomas is in the best shape of his career," remarked Huddleston.
Huddleston anticipates Cummings to have a good year in the 400m hurdles as Butler had a very productive fall during cross country and is expected to continue to be competitive. Juniors Quintin Wright, Thomas Pressley, Charles Kutz and Cameron Easley will also add much needed depth for the men's team.
Following the Clemson Open, the Bulldogs will travel to Chapel Hill, SC to compete at the University of North Carolina on Saturday, January 14.
December 1, 2005 - Track & Field Opens Indoor Season Friday
STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern University Indoor Track & Field Team will make the first of three season trips to Clemson, South Carolina on Friday, (Dec. 2) as they begin their 2005-2006 season.
“This is a starting point. The team has worked hard over the last three months and earned the right to compete this weekend,” said head coach Shaun Meinecke.
Of the five meets that make up the Eagles ’05-’06 Indoor season, Clemson will host three of them: this weekends meet, followed by the Clemson Multis on January 27th and 28th , 2006 and finally the Southern Conference Indoor Championships, which are scheduled for February 24th and 25th.
Georgia Southern will travel to Johnson City, Tennessee and Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the remaining two meets. East Tennessee State University will host the Niswonger meet January 20th and 21st, while the Carolina Classic will be held on the University of North Carolina’s campus on February 11th.
This weekends Clemson meet will comprise of 14 total events, the majority of which will take place on the final day, Saturday. The Eagles will then be off for the close of the semester and will resume action after the New Year.
“I hope (this meet) is good motivation for the team to stay in shape over Winter Break because we’ll only have a short time after we return before Conference Championships,” Meinecke continued. “Everyone’s healthy right now and we should compete well.”
The 2006 Outdoor Track & Field schedule will begin on March 18th, 2006 with the Georgia Southern Invitational, hosted by Georgia Southern University.