STATESBORO, GA ? Appalachian State won its fifth consecutive SoCon Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship and Western Carolina won its first SoCon Men’s title since 1999 on Sunday at the 2006 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Georgia Southern Track/Soccer Complex.
The Mountaineer women outlasted a late Georgia Southern drive to obtain the title, with Appalachian State holding on with a cumulative point total of 197.5 to the Eagles’ 182.5. Georgia Southern head women’s coach Shaun Meinecke was named Coach of the Year for the Eagles’ efforts.
The men’s team victory was the second all-time for the Catamount program.
After two days and seven events, Appalachian State’s Kristie Boggan concluded the women’s heptathlon with a SoCon championship. Boggan’s cumulative total of 4,332 points in the event was almost 400 points better than second-place finisher Serenity Thompson (3,983) of Georgia Southern.
Boggan obtained the win in the heptathlon by securing victories in the javelin throw (33.61 meters) and the shot put (14.02 meters).
Teammate Dustin Wright picked up his third consecutive decathlon win shortly after Boggan’s victory, acquiring the most points of his three-year tenure as champion of the event in the process. Wright tabulated a cumulative total of 6,263 points, winning three of the 10 events.
Western Carolina (Zeb Johnson, Michael Malone, Milton Bolton and Kevin Johnson) solidified its second straight 4x100-meter relay victory with a time of 40.58. The NCAA regional qualifying time was more than a second faster than second place Appalachian State (41.69).
In the men’s discus throw, Jim Walter of Davidson claimed the Wildcats’ first victory of the second day, hurling the discus 153 feet and seven inches to claim the crown over Katon Bethay of Wofford (148-05).
Bethay was able to matriculate a championship on the day for Wofford, as the senior record a SoCon championship-winning throw of 52 feet and 11 inches in the shot put.
The strong performances in both events helped Bethay to be dubbed the league’s field Performer of the Year by the conference’s head coaches.
Shannon Wommack of Chattanooga, the outstanding track and field performer of the SoCon championship for the second consecutive year, garnered her second SoCon record in an event in as many days when she set the new standard in the women’s 1,500-meter run by running the event in 4:22.95. Wommack’s time gives the graduate student her third SoCon championship in the event, ending her career with 15 all-time SoCon championships.
Senior Adam Puett of Western Carolina once again tallied a victory in the 1,500 meters, chalking up his third consecutive win in the SoCon championships in the event with a time of 3:56.93. Puett’s win helped to lead him to the conference’s 2006 track Performer of the Year honors.
Western Carolina’s Raquel Ramseur improved on her third-place showing in the 2005 championship in the women’s 400 meter dash by earning her first SoCon championship in the event with a regional qualifying time of 54.15.
Tangelia Johnson of Western Carolina picked up her first SoCon championship in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.69. The mark was an NCAA regional qualifying time.
Johnson followed that up with a victory in the 200-meter dash, winning the event with a time of 24.40.
The Catamounts’ Jessika Johnson improved on a third-place output in 2005 as well by jumping 1.67 meters to claim her first SoCon Outdoor Track and Field championship in the high jump.
WCU’s Asia Davis, who set the new standard in the SoCon in the 400-meter hurdles on Saturday with a time of 59.53, did not quite up the ante once again on Sunday in the event, but did manage to win the SoCon championship with a regional qualifying time of 1:00.47.
Appalachian State’s Beverly Burnett, the SoCon record holder in the women’s shot put with a mark of 15.50 meters, threw for a mark of 14.92 meters to earn a regional qualifying mark and win her second straight SoCon championship in the event.
The Moutaineers’ Mark Sturgis successfully defended his triple jump championship at the 2006 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships by improving on his jump of 15.22 meters at the championship with a regional qualifying mark of 15.27 and a SoCon Outdoor Track and Field championship.
Western Carolina’s Zeb Johnson picked up the SoCon championship in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.88, besting second-place finisher and teammate Kevin Johnson (10.96). The Catamounts matriculated a clean sweep in the event, as Western Carolina’s Michael Malone finished in third place with a time of 10.99.
In the 200-meter dash, Johnson with a time of 21.63 won his second individual championship of the day.
The Catamounts’ Malone, part of the 4x100 meter relay-winning foursome, obtained an individual crown in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.77.
Brittany Chase of Georgia Southern won her second consecutive 100-meter hurdles championship with a regional qualifying time of 13.95. The time improved on her championship-winning time of 14.00 at the 2005 Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles Charles Derrickson of Appalachian State won his first ever SoCon Outdoor Track and Field championship. The freshman narrowly missed the SoCon record, but his time of 14.17 did give him an NCAA qualifying time.
Furman’s McKenzie Sharpe commandeered her first SoCon championship in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.24.
UNC Greensboro’s Jeff Williams picked up the Spartans’ first individual championship in the 2006 championship with a victory in the men’s 800-meter run. Williams’ produced a time of 1:51.79 to secure the win.
The Citadel’s Shaquill Smith with a mark of exactly two meters commandeered the Bulldogs’ first men’s SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championship since 2003 in the high jump. The freshman bested another freshman in Josh Cox, who finished in second place with a jump of 1.95 meters.
Smith’s exploits earned him league Freshman of the Year plaudits.
The Citadel’s Stephanie McNeill, the league’s most valuable field performer, shortly after Smith’s win became the first Bulldog female student-athlete to ever claim a SoCon women’s championship. McNeill’s throw of 141 feet and two inches was over an inch further than second-place finisher Nikole Simmons (140-01) of Appalachian State.
2006 Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships
(Final Team Results)
Women - Team Rankings - 21 Events Scored
1) Appalachian State 197.5
2) Georgia Southern 182.5
3) Western Carolina 144
4) Chattanooga 79
5) Elon 55
6) The Citadel 48
7) Furman 40
8) Davidson 39
9) C. of Charleston 20
10) Wofford 10
11) UNC- Greensboro 2
Men - Team Rankings - 21 Events Scored
1) Western Carolina 258.5
2) Appalachian State 244.5
3) Davidson 84
4) The Citadel 77
5) Furman 58
6) Chattanooga 51
7) Wofford 18
Men’s Outdoor Track and Field
Co-Coaches of the Year ? Gary Andrew (Davidson) and Danny Williamson (Western Carolina)
Freshman of the Year ? Shaquill Smith (The Citadel)
Track Performer of the Year ? Adam Puett (Western Carolina)
Field Performer of the Year ? Katon Bethay (Wofford)
Women’s Outdoor Track and Field
Coach of the Year ? Shaun Meinecke (Georgia Southern)
Freshman of the Year ? Emily King (Davidson)
Track Performer of the Year ? Shannon Wommack (Chattanooga)
Field Performer of the Year ? Stephanie McNeill (The Citadel)