Appalachian State Concludes Appalachian Open
Men
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's track and field continued with its dominating performances this season as the Mountaineers posted solid performances Saturday at their second home meet of the year the Appalachian Open. The Apps took home eight first place finishes throughout the day.
In the 55m hurdles, Daniel Neal finished first with a time of 7.63, while Phillip Bush recorded a new personal best, placing fourth with a time of 7.71. John Svoboda was impressive in the 200m dash, winning the event in a time of 22.21, while Bush finished fifth and freshman Dennis Moore was sixth.
Appalachian posted solid showings in both jump events, as Mark Sturgis finished first in the triple jump, jumping 48-8.75 and Ricky Harris notched the runner-up spot, leaping 46-1.25. In the long jump, the Apps took spots 1-3, with Harris finishing first, with a jump of 23-9, Bush second (22-3.50) and Sturgis third (22-2.25).
Freshman Darius Purcell finished tied for first in the high jump, jumping a season-best 6-9, with Matt Boruff coming in fourth and freshman Matt Pfingst placing fifth.
In the mid-distance and distance events, Nick O'Keefe finished first in the 800m with a time of 1:57.04 and Brooks Forsyth grabbed the runner-up spot, while Bud Galloway came in first in the 1000m run with a time of 2:35.33.
Malcolm Styers led ASU in the throwing events, finishing second in the shot put and weight throw and recording a new personal record in the shot put, with a throw of 53-0. The throw moves him into third on the all-time list in the event. Tim Daly and Jerod Gardner were solid as well, with Gardner finishing fourth in the shot put and Daly third in the weight throw.
The Black and Gold finished out the afternoon by taking the top three spots in the pole vault, with Ryan Twiford vaulting 15-1 and finishing first, Mike Wilson placing second and Boruff placing third.
ASU looks to continue its strong showing as they head to Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday January 24 to compete at the North Carolina Invitational.
Women
BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University women's track and field were dominant Saturday at their second home meet of the season as six Mountaineers captured first place finishes and numerous others posted solid showings to start the 2009 season.
Kiara Crutchfield paced the Apps in the 55m hurdles, grabbing the runner-up spot with a time of 8.48, while Michelle Brutus finished right behind Crutchfield with the fourth place spot.
Ashley McKiver and Crystal Dukes were strong in the 55m dash, with McKiver finishing third and Dukes seventh.
Junior Danielle Thorpe swept the jumping events, taking home first in both the long and triple jump, leaping 18-6 in the long jump and 40-00.75 in the triple. Crutchfield was strong in the long jump as well placing third with a leap of 17-9.5.
In the high jump, Rebecca Hazeltine followed up with her career-best performance in the Appalachian Invite in December, finishing first in the high jump Saturday with a jump of 5-5.75.
In the throwing events, Lily Tallent posted a personal best throw of 41-10.50 in the shot put, moving her into eighth on ASU's all-time list in the event. Whitney Smyre had a strong showing as well, finishing second in the shot put with a throw personal best throw as well of 41-2.50, placing tenth on ASU's all-time list in the event. Smyre also took home first in the weight throw, with a throw of 51-9.75.
Kala Robertson grabbed a third place finish in the 1000m run with a time of 3:11. 24 pacing the Black and Gold in the distance events, while Melissa Kopec was sixth in the 800m and Stephanie Chapman placed fifth in the mile.
Rounding out the competition, Shea Snow captured first in the pole vault with a vault of 11-11.75, while Ashley Beale finished third vaulting 11.-5.75.
ASU continues with its 2008-09 campaign as they head to Chapel Hill, N.C. to compete at the North Carolina Invitational Saturday January 24.
Western Carolina Competes at Appalachian Open
Boone, N.C. - Another solid performance including seven winning performances and ten podium finishes highlighted the Western Carolina Track & Field teams' first meet of 2009, the Appalachian State Open, held Saturday afternoon in Boone, N.C at the Holmes Center.
Dominique Young finish in first place in the 55-meter dash after Manteo Mitchell won the preliminaries. Young finished with a time of 6.26 with Mitchell falling to fourth with a 6.38 finish.
Benny Davis came away with a first place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.56 finishing just ahead of teammate Thomas Funderburk who came in with a time of 49.62. Matt Evans tied for first in the high jump event jumping 2.06 meters.
Both WCU men and women 4x400 meter relays teams came away with victories on Saturday afternoon with the men's team winning by three seconds over Emory college with a time of 3:21.48. The women's squad won by almost nine seconds over rival Appalachian State with a time of 3:54.93.
Shalyn McMichael took home a first place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.35. McMichael and Paulding were the two first place winners for the women's team on Saturday afternoon.
The Catamounts also took home six third-place finishes in the meet, with Christian Bethune taking the first third-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.47. Daniel Joseph took third in the triple jump event jumping 13.87 meters. Chris Page rounded out the men's third place finishers throwing 15.34 meters in the weight throw event.
Ryan Pless took a second place finish in the shot put throwing a respectable 14.88 meters, less than two meters behind the winner from Appalachian State Malcolm Styers.
The women's squad had some third-place finishers as well, Jordan Gaddy finished in third in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:22.46. Then Tia Jones finished third in the long jump event with a 5.42-meter jump.
The women's team also had some second place finishes with Emma Bowers taking second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.89. Megan Isaacs placed second in the one-mile event with a time of 5:19.02 with fellow teammate Jones taking a second place finish in the triple jump with a 11.72 meter jump.
The two teams will be back in competition next weekend, traveling to Lynchburg, Virginia for the Liberty Multi Meet, taking place on Jan. 23-24.