Manteo Mitchell, Raquel Ramseur and Men's 400-Meter Relay Team Qualify for National Championship at NCAA East Regional
Tallahassee, Fla. - Western Carolina's men's 4x100-meter relay team, as well as senior Raquel Ramseur and junior Manteo Mitchell each automatically qualified for the NCAA National Championships from the East Regional concluded Saturday evening at Florida State University's Mike Long Track.
For the second-straight day, the Catamount foursome of senior Zeb Johnson, junior Manteo Mitchell and sophomores Christian Bethune and Dominic Young broke their own school record in the men's 4x100-meter relay. Ranked first following the preliminary round on Friday, Western clocked a school-benchmark time of 39.59 to place third in the region, garnering one of the three automatic bids to the NCAA National Championship.
The four ran a school-best 39.64 in Friday's preliminary rounds to eclipse its own benchmark established earlier this outdoor season.
Individually, Mitchell finished third in the men's 400-meter dash finals with a time of 46.25 while Ramseur finished fifth in the women's 400-meter dash competition with a time of 53.15. Both earned one of the five automatic berths into the national championships. Mitchell's time was a season-best, just missing the school record (46.23) by two-one hundredths of a second. Ramseur's performance was her second-best of the season, just shy of the school-record she set earlier this season (53.08).
Johnson placed sixth with a time of 21.01, his third-best of the year in the event in the men's 200-meter finals with junior Daniel Joseph finished 31st in the region in the men's triple jump with a leap of 14.30 meters, 46-feet, 11 inches to conclude the Western's individual competition at the regional.
In the women's 4x100-meter relay final, the WCU team of seniors Ramseur and Tangelia Johnson, and freshmen Felicia Paulding and Janet Carothers finished eighth in the region with a time of 45.19. The time was the squad's second-best of the season after setting a school-record in Friday's prelims.
Western's 4x400-meter relay team won its section - the second of three run on the day - with a time of 3:37.58. The squad of Ramseur and four freshmen Carothers, Paulding and Shalyn McMichael finished eighth in the competitive East region after posting a season-best mark.
On the men's side of the 1,600-meter relay, the Catamounts finished seventh in their heat, and ninth overall, with a time of 3:08.39. Among WCU's section were six of the top eight times of the meet. The team of Mitchell, Young, Johnson and junior Thomas Funderburke posted the third-best, four-lap combination this season.
Although both 4x400-meter relay teams missed the automatic berths to the national event, both will stand on their times for the possibility of an at-large bid to the national meet. Also, sophomore Matt Evans finished tied for 10th with seven others after clearing a height of 6-9 in the men's high jump competition on Friday and will remain in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship by virtue of finishing inside the top 12 of the event.
At-large nominations will be handed out in the coming days prior to the NCAA National Championship.
Western Carolina Advances Two Relay Teams, Three Individuals to NCAA East Regional Finals
Tallahassee, Fla. - Western Carolina's men's and women's 4x100-meter relay teams established school records Friday as the Catamounts advanced both squads and three individuals to the finals at the 2008 NCAA East Regional at the Mike Long Track. In addition to the finals on Saturday, WCU junior Daniel Joseph will open competition in the triple jump in the second flight with the top nine advancing to the finals with both WCU 4x400-meter relay squads will be in action.
The men's squad of senior Zeb Johnson, junior Manteo Mitchell and sophomores Christian Bethune and Dominic Young posted the second-quickest time at the meet, but will enter Saturday's finals as the top-rated squad as the Clemson Tigers were disqualified after passing the baton outside of one of zone two. The Catamounts turned a hot lap and school-record of 39.64 in the 400-meter relay ahead of second-place South Carolina and the host Florida State Seminoles in third.
On the women's side, with the four heat winners and the next four quickest times advancing to the finals, Western Carolina finished second with the seventh-best time in the region just behind the Florida Gators in their heat, who turned in the second-best time on the day. The Catamount foursome of seniors Tangelia Johnson and Raquel Ramseur, and freshmen Janet Carothers and Felicia Paulding set a school record by passing the baton in an all-time best 44.95 seconds to advance to the finals, only eight-tenths of a second off the top time of 44.11 set by South Carolina.
Ramseur also qualified for the finals in the women's 400-meter dash, tripping the tape in 53.43 to place second overall in her heat with the sixth-best time of the day and her second-best time this season. In the men's 400, Mitchell earned his heat's automatic berth into the finals by beating his five competitors to the stripe in 46.28, his top time this season and just five-one hundredths of a second off a school record.
Although he finished third in his heat, Zeb Johnson qualified for the finals in the men's 200-meter dash after running the fourth-best time of the season at 20.97. He finished just 0.17 seconds behind FSU All-American Walter Dix and was eighth in the preliminaries to move to the finals.
In additional individual competition, Young finished third in his heat and 14th in the region in the men's 100-meter dash preliminaries with a personal-best time of 10.46, three-one hundreths of a second quicker than WCU's top time this season
Sophomore Matt Evans finished tied for 10th with seven others after clearing a height of 6-9 in the men's high jump competition. He will remain in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship by virtue of finishing inside the top 12 of the event.
Evans finished two places ahead of teammate, David Bowles, in the men's javelin with a throw of 58.79 meters (192-10) while Bowles unfurled a toss of 58.58 meters (192-2).
Also in women's competition on Friday, junior Tara Tounzen finished eighth in her flight and 28th overall in the javelin throw with a mark of 36.80 meters, her fourth-best of the season. Senior Tangelia Johnson finished fifth in her heat and 22nd overall in the region in the open 100-meter dash with a time of 11.97 while junior Rashanda Simmons finished 30th in the region in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.91.
Senior Kerrie Savery, who posted the top five times for WCU this season in the 800-meter run turned in a time of 2:17.24 to finish 31st overall. Freshman Felicia Paulding finished fourth in her heat and 22nd in the preliminaries in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.32.
Results can be found by visiting www.TrackShark.com or live scoring of the meet at http://www.halfmiletiming.com/Datafiles/Spring2008/NCAAEast08/Results.
GSU Track & Field Concludes 2008 Season at NCAA East Regional
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? The Georgia Southern track & field team concluded the 2008 season at the NCAA East Regional Championships at the Mike Long Track in Tallahassee, Fla.
Florida State University was the host institution, while Virginia Tech came away with the NCAA East Regional Championship.
Georgia Southern competed very hard and did well during the second day of competition. Senior Jennifer Charles finished ninth in “Flight 1” and 29th overall in the shot put. In just her second year as a member of the track & field team, the Green Cove Springs, Fla. Native threw a distance of 43’03.25.
The Eagles had three competitors in the triple jump event. Shaunta Hamilton (Macon, Ga./Westside) leaped a distance of 39’06.50” earning a 23rd place finish. Hamilton and Demetrise Anthony (Manchester, Ga./Manchester) finished fourth and fifth in “Flight 1”. Anthony and Lynndsey Hyter (Dallas, Texas/Kaiserslautern American High) posted distances of 39’03.25” and 39’01.75” respectively.
Sophomore Melanie Trumbo (Lilburn, Ga./Brookwood) participated in the high jump, but did not record a mark.
The NCAA East Regional Championships completes the 2008 Georgia Southern track & field season.
ASU Women's Track and Field Closes Out Season At NCAA East Regional
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Two triple jumpers posted career-best marks and a pair of other Appalachian State women's outdoor track and field athletes finished the season with strong performances at the NCAA East Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. over the weekend.
In her first of three events on the weekend, senior Brittani Williams (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) posted a 10th place finish in the discus throw. She reached her mark of 156-10 on her first throw before fouling the final two. The toss was her second-best of the season and came just six inches shy of her school record, set at the Georgia Tech Invitational two weeks ago.
The senior threw for a career-best 167-1 in the hammer throw on Saturday to place 15th in the event. She remains in fourth place on the ASU career list.
Williams placed eighth in the shot put with a toss of 48-6.75. The mark was less than two feet off her career-best, which ranks her second all-time at Appalachian.
Junior Shea Snow (Booneville, N.C./Starmount) posted a mark of 12-feet to finish in a tie for 17th place. Snow was unable to clear the next height of 12-6, as her best height of the season was 12-1.5, good for second on the ASU career list.
In the triple jump, sophomore Danielle Thorpe (Durham, N.C./Jordan) placed 13th with a career-best 41-6.5. Her previous best was 41-3.75, set at the SoCon Championship as she remains fourth on the career list.
Senior Vonteena Knotts (Charlotte, N.C./Butler) was just short of Thorpe, as she placed 14th in the triple jump with a mark of 40-11. The mark was also a career-best for Knotts, which improves her eighth-place position in the ASU record book.
Virginia Tech won the team Regional title and the Mountaineers finished in a tie for 48th place with one point, by virtue of Williams' eighth-place finish in the shot put.
Stay logged on to GoASU.com throughout the summer for coverage of the Mountaineers as they compete in the Junior Nationals, Olympic Trials and other competitions.
Eagles Conclude Day One of Track Regionals
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ? The Georgia Southern track & field team concluded the first day at the NCAA East Regional Championships at the Mike Long Track in Tallahassee, Fla.
Senior Carla Ballard ended her stellar career in the preliminaries of the 400m hurdles. The Morrow, Ga. native ran a time of 1:01.35 finishing the event in 25th place.
Lynndsey Hyter (Dallas, Texas/Kaiserslautern American High) and Shaunta Hamilton (Macon, Ga./Westside) both competed in the long jump during the first day of competition. Hyter posted a distance of 19’02.00” for a 13th place finish, while Hamilton leaped a distance of 17’09.75”.
Georgia Southern returns to action tomorrow where senior Jennifer Charles (Green Cove Springs, Fla./Clay) will compete in the shot put, Hyter, Hamilton and Demetrise Anthony (Manchester, Ga./Manchester) will participate in the triple jump and Melanie Trumbo (Lilburn, Ga.) will be included in the high jump.