January 22, 2006 - UNCG track teams open season at Niswonger Invitational

 

JOHNSON CITY, TN ? Charles Jones broke the school indoor triple jump record to highlight UNC Greensboro’s opening weekend action at the Niswonger Invitational Indoor Track Meet.

 

Jones, who became the first UNCG athlete to qualify for the National Outdoor Championships, broke the school indoor record by more than a meter over the weekend, recording a mark of 15.04 meters. He also placed third in the unseeded long jump, leaping 6.88 meters. That fell just shy of the school mark of 6.90 meters, which Jones set at last year’s Southern Conference Championships.

 

On the women’s side, Jess Weber and Kathy Oldham recorded Top 10 finishes in the mile. Weber crossed the line ninth in 5:29.01, while Oldham finished 10th in 5:29.83.

 

Also recording top 10 finishes on the men’s side were Xavier Rutz, Jeff Williams and Nick Vaccaro. Williams finished 10th in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.20, while Vaccaro was 10th in the 3000 meters unseeded. Vaccaro crossed the line in a personal best 8:52.78. Rutz finished fourth in the 5000 meters, recording a personal best time of 15:12.76.

 

“This was a good opener for us,” said UNCG coach Rachelle Roberts. “It shows where we are fitness wise and what we need to work on for the next couple of meets.  We had four athletes run personal records including a school record and we look for more of those throughout the season.”

 

UNCG returns to action next week at the UNC Invitational in Chapel Hill.

 

January 21, 2006 - Mountaineers Conclude Competition at Niswonger Invitational

JOHNSON CITY, TN ? Freshman Charles Derrickson (Spring Lake, N.C.) finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles and sophomore Barron Shell (Hays, N.C.) placed third in the pole vault, Saturday, as the Appalachian State University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams concluded competition at the Niswonger Invitational at ETSU Memorial Stadium.

Derrickson, who placed second in the preliminaries Friday, finished fourth in the finals of the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.10. Derrickson’s time of 8.04 in the preliminaries missed the school record by 0.03 seconds. He now holds Appalachian’s second-best time in the event.

Shell recorded a school sixth-best mark of 15-07.00 to place third in the pole vault. He was followed by teammate Dan Queen (Charlotte, N.C.) in sixth place with a mark of 4.60m.

Other top competitors for Appalachian State Saturday included Ricky Harris (Durham, N.C.) in the long jump (12th, 22-02.50), Charles White (Providence, N.C.) in the 60m dash (29th, 7.01), Mark Sturgis (Woodleaf, N.C.) in the 200m dash (28th, 22.25) and Piper Taylor (Fayetteville, N.C.) in the 400m dash (32nd, 1:01.16).

A total of 10 meet records fell in the two-day Niswonger Invitational which featured over 600 athletes from 33 different schools, clubs and unattached competitors.

In competition Friday, senior Beverly Burnett (Graham, N.C.) led the Mountaineers with a second place throw of 56.06.00 in the weight throw and a third-place mark of 45-07.75 in the shot put. Burnett has now moved into second in the ASU record books in the weight throw.

Two other Mountaineers finished in the top-10 in both the weight throw and the shot put, as senior Nikole Simmons (Charlotte, N.C.) placed fourth in the weight throw (53-02.75) and fifth in the shot put (43-07.25).

Senior Kristie Boggan (Charlotte, N.C.) placed sixth in the weight throw with a mark of 50-09.50, while sophomore Brittani Williams (Charlotte, N.C.) placed eight in the shot put with a throw of 41-07.75.

Sturgis placed second in the triple jump for the men Friday with a mark of 50-08.25. He now holds the sixth-best jump in Appalachian school history. Senior Chris Cutter (Charlotte, N.C.) joined Sturgis in the top-15 in the event with a 12th-place jump of 46.08.00.

Vonteena Knotts (Charlotte, N.C.) finished second in the long jump with a jump of 18-11.25. The sophomore now holds the eighth-best mark in school history.

Senior Bridget Robertson (Advance, N.C.) moved into a tie for fifth place in the Appalachian State record books with a mark of 10-00.00 in the pole vault. Sophomore Kaitlyn Heeke (Hickory, N.C.) and freshman Shea Snow (Booneville, N.C.) tied for 10th in the event with marks of 9-06.25.

For complete results from the meet, please click here.

The Mountaineers return to Boone for their first home competition of the new year as they host the Mountaineer Winter Open, Sunday, Jan. 28 at 11 a.m. at the Holmes Center.

 

January 22, 2006 - Two Bulldogs Break School Records at Niswonger Invitational

Johnson City, TN - The Citadel track and field team continues to improve every week as the Bulldogs had another good outing at the Niswonger Invitational hosted by East Tennessee State this past Friday and Saturday. Zach DiBois came close to equaling his distance in the 35 pound weight throw that earned him Southern Conference Athlete of the Week last week, while two members of the women's team broke school records.

DiBois has had a very exciting seven days of his track career beginning last Saturday when he placed third at the UNC Chapel Hill opener. He followed that in the middle of the week by being named SoCon male track and field Athlete of the Week. DiBois then rounded out the week with a fifth place finish in the 35 pound weight throw at the Niswonger Invitational. His toss of 50-5.5 nearly equaled his 50-7.25 throw from the week before.

Senior Marcus Butler also came close to his best performance in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.78, taking the 11th spot. His personal best is 1:56.38.

For the women, Jodi Whittle and Stephanie McNeill continue to break school records in bunches. Whittle lowered her 200 meter record set last week at North Carolina from 26.08 to 25.80. She followed that by lowering her own record in the 400 meters set last year on the same track from 59.91 to 58.73.

McNeill placed seventh out of 37 throwers in the 20lb. weight and upped her record from last weekend from 47-11.25 to a very impressive 50-3.25.

"Any time you can improve over two feet in one week is amazing and proof of the time and effort put into it by her and her coaches, Kris Kut, Jared Boan and Catrina Moore," said head coach Jody Huddleston.

Next up, the Bulldogs travel back to UNC Chapel Hill next weekend, January 27-28, to compete in the UNC Fast Times Invitational.