Spartanburg, SC -- The Southern Conference spring championships continue this weekend with the 2007 Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the ASU Track at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22.
The Championships begin on Saturday, April 21 at 8:00 a.m. with the decathlon events and will conclude on Saturday with the men’s and women’s javelin at 6:15 p.m. Competition will continue on Sunday, April 22 at 8:00 a.m. with the decathlon and heptathlon events and conclude with the men’s 4x400 relay at 4:30 p.m., followed by the presentation of the team championship trophies.
To date, Chattanooga's Lanni Marchant (10,000 meters) has earned NCAA Provisional qualification status. The NCAA Championships will be held in Sacramento, Calif. at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex June 6-9.
Review of 2006 Championships
At the 2006 Championships, the Western Carolina men's team won its second all-time outdoor title finishing with 258.5 points. The Appalachian State women claimed their fifth consecutive team crown, outlasting host Georgia Southern by 15 points to take the title.
Shannon Wommack of Chattanooga, the outstanding track 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 with a time of 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.
Western Carolina’s Adam Puett 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.
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 claim a SoCon championship on the day for Wofford, as the senior recorded a 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 league’s head coaches.
The Citadel’s Shaquill Smith with a mark of exactly two meters earned the Bulldogs’ first men’s SoCon Outdoor Track and Field Championship since 2003 in the high jump. The freshman bested fellow freshman Josh Cox, who finished in second place with a jump of 1.95 meters.
Smith’s performance earned him league Freshman of the Year honors.
The Citadel’s Stephanie McNeill, the league’s most valuable women's 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.
The Women’s Coach of the Year went to Georgia Southern head coach Shaun Meinecke. The Men’s Coach of the Year was shared between Davidson’s Gary Andrew and Danny Williamson of Western Carolina.