December 4, 2005 ? Mountaineer Track and Field Opens Season With Appalachian Invitational
BOONE, N.C. ? Ricky Harris, Mark Sturgis, Johnny Svboda and Nikole Simmons each broke ASU Holmes Center records as the Appalachian State University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams opened the 2005-06 season, Sunday, Dec. 4 at the Holmes Center in Boone.
The meet, which contained no team scores, consisted of competitors from Appalachian, Davidson, East Tennessee State, Elon, Gardner-Webb, Kennesaw State, King, Lees-McRae, Mars Hill, UNC Asheville, Charlotte and Western Carolina, as well as unattached competitors.
Harris (Durham, N.C.) shattered the old Holmes Center long jump record of 22-10.50 with a first-place jump of 23-11.50 Saturday. Fellow sophomore Sturgis (Woodleaf, N.C.) finished behind his teammate in second with a jump of 23-2.50. Sturgis broke his own record of 47-10.50 in the triple jump with a mark of 49-9.25. The final men’s ASU Holmes Center record broken came from Svboda (Kernersville, N.C.) in the 400m. The freshman finished second with a time of 49.72.
Simmons (Charlotte, N.C.), a senior, broke the women’s ASU Holmes Center record with a throw of 57-09.00 in the weight throw, finishing first in the event while setting a personal-best mark.
Overall, the Mountaineers grabbed seven first-place finishes. On the women’s side, seniors Caren Mah (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Beverly Burnett (Graham, N.C.) added to Simmons’ first-place finish as Mah recorded an 11-5.75 mark to tie for first in the pole vault, and Burnett had a throw of 46-6.25 to place first in the shot put.
Aside from Sturgis’ and Harris’ victories, freshman Charles Derrickson (Spring Lake, N.C.) and senior Dan Queen (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded first place finishes for the Mountaineers. Derrickson, in his first collegiate meet, won the 200m with a time of 22.17, while Queen tied for first in the pole vault with a mark of 14-11.00.
The Mountaineers have more than a month off before continuing their season at the East Tennessee Invitational in Johnson City, Tenn., January 20-21
December 5, 2005 - Citadel Track Breaks School Records in Clemson Open
Clemson, SC?The Citadel track team began the 2005-06 indoor season at the Clemson Open hosted by the University of Clemson last Friday and Saturday. The women broke two school records as the men captured fifth place in their season opener.
On Friday, the distance medley relay team of freshmen Sarah Strickland, Caitlin Lincer, Megan Jenkins and Erin Ritter took sixth place with a time of 13:17.27, breaking the Citadel record set last year by 32 seconds. Strickland came back the next day to earn The Citadel’s record in the mile. At the finish line, Strickland passed fellow Bulldog Jenkins for a 5:34.30 mark. Her time was nine seconds better than the record senior Laura Hewston set last season. Jenkins finished in 5:34.84, also beating last year’s record with a second place finish. Ritter picked up third in the mile with a 5:36.88.
Jenkins, Lincer and Strickland also teamed up with freshman Teresa Dorman to establish the freshman school record in the 4x400 relay in a time of 4:27.13. Sophomore Laura Phelan also had the fourth best 20 pound weight throw in Citadel history with a toss of 35-3.75.
“Overall it was a very good meet for the women,” said head coach Jody Huddleston.
Freshman Chip Kutz, sophomores Matt Haight and Robert Isaac, and senior Marcus Butler placed fifth in the distance medley relay for the men with a time of 10:52.25. Butler also placed eighth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:00.47 and Kutz had a very good race in the mile to finish in ninth place in 4:34.02. Juniors Thomas Pressley and Quintin Wright along with senior Thomas Cummings also had very good races this early in the year.
“We need to stay focused over the long break and come back ready to race at North Carolina,” commented Huddleston.
After exams, the Bulldogs will travel to Chapel Hill, NC to participate at the University of North Carolina on Saturday, January 14.
December 5, 2005 - Western Track & Field Records 17 Podium Finishes at Appalachian Indoor Opener
Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina Track & Field team opened the 2005-06 indoor season by recording 17 podium performances, which included six first-place finishes, Sunday afternoon at the Appalachian Indoor Invitational Sunday in Boone, N.C. The 17, top three finishes ranked second among the 10 schools competing in the non-team scored event.
"In this first meet of the season, we saw where some of our athletes improved upon where they were this time last year and it was a good test for our younger athletes. But, we could have done numerous things better," said head coach Danny Willimason. "Overall, though, this is a good measuring stick and gives both the coaches and student-athletes a good idea of what they need to do to contend for a championship, which is our ultimate goal.
On the women's side, defending Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, sophomore Raquel Ramseur, returned to form with a first-place run in the 400-meter dash, tripping the tape 55.70 to set her career-best. She was closely followed by teammates Asia Davis (3rd, 57.48) and Brooke Saddler (4th, 59.27). Another second-year runner, sophomore Kerrie Savery, also recorded a first-place finish in the women's 800-meter run. The Palm Harbor, Fla, native recorded a time of 2:18.24 to win the event by nearly a full two seconds over the second place finisher. Western's Annie Bailey and Elizabeth Prevette ran fifth and sixth, respectively, in the event with times of 2:26 and 2:27.
Western's women recorded a third, first-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The team of Saddler, Ramseur, Davis, and sophomore Tangelia Johnson completed the four circuits in a time of 3:57, a full six seconds quicker than the second place squad. A second Catamount team, consisting of Bailey, freshman Aneesha Lane, junior Brittany Whitaker, and senior Cassie Gentry, placed fourth in the same event with a total time of 4:17.
In addition to teaming for a first place finish, Johnson also ran well individually. She was twice Western's top finisher in two separate events, finishing second in the women's 55-meter dash with a career-best time of 7.11, and tied her career-best time of 25.76 in the 200-meter dash. In the jumping events, senior Tiffany Mack led the way with finishes of fifth in both the long and triple jumps, recording marks of 5.39 meters (17-8.25) and 11.03 meters (36-2.25), respectively. Junior Sharhonda Bell and sophomore Nicole Lopez flip-flopped the top finisher in the shot put and weight throw, with Bell finishing fourth in the shot (12.61m, 41-4.5) and Lopez placing fifth in the weight throw (14.23m, 46-8.25)
In the men's competition, Western also recorded a trio of first-place finishes, led by senior Lawrence Briscoe. The Charlotte, N.C., native won the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.61. Matt Harlfinger finished fifth (8.03), with Mike Malone (8.08) and Ashten Bennett (8.11) placing seventh and eighth, respectively. Freshman Manteo Mitchell claimed his first individual event championship by winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.58, edging out two runners from Appalachian.
As in the women's competition, the men's 4x400-meter relay team of Mitchell, Milton Bolton, James Gregory and Zeb Johnson also took the top spot, tying ASU with identical times of 3:26. A second Western team, consisting of senior Charleton Grant, sophomore Ogden Hansford, freshman Chris Gaillard, and sophomore Duke Craig, finished third, two seconds in arrears at 3:28.
Defending outdoor track & field men's Freshman of the Year, Zeb Johnson, posted a pair of second-place finishes on Saturday, taking the runner-up spot in both the 55-meter (6.36) and 200-meter dash (22.34). His time in the 55-meter dash was his indoor career-best, improving by one-hundreths of a second over his top time a year ago at the same track, while his 200-meter time was identical to his best mark as a frosh, set at Clemson at the end of last January. Junior Tyler Ferguson finished eighth in the long jump (6.68m, 21-11) and a team-best third in the triple jump with a distance of 14.51m (47-7.25). In the field events, sophomore Jerod Kelly and junior Willie Sturgis traded the top WCU finisher honors with Kelly posting a second-place finish in the shot put (14.61m, 47-11.25m) and Sturgis finishing fourth in the weight throw (15.31m, 50-2.75).