STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Appalachian State men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams have the lead entering the final day of the 2009 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The men’s team has 84 points and is looking for its second title in a row, while the women’s team has 82.5 points and is looking for its first title since 2006.
Opening the day were the first events in the men’s pentathlon and the women’s heptathlon.
Winning four of the day’s five events in the men’s decathlon was Samford freshman Donald Cooper, who won the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.10, the long jump with a leap of 21-7.50 (6.59 meters), the high jump with a jump of 6-06 (1.98m) and the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.47.
Cooper leads the decathlon through five events with 3,664 points, 227 points more than second-place finisher Sean Reardon of Western Carolina.
Appalachian State’s Jake Goodchild won the pentathlon shot put with a throw of 38-07.75 (11.78m).
The Eagles’ Lynndsey Hyter leads the heptathlon at the conclusion of day one on the strength of her victory in the 200-meter dash. She won the event in 25.07. The sophomore also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the shot put to claim the lead over Western Carolina’s Jettana Thomas by 20 points entering the second and final day of competition.
Thomas claimed the heptathlon 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.75 seconds.
Georgia Southern’s Melanie Trumbo won the heptathlon high jump with a leap of 5-09.25 (1.76m).
The Catamounts’ Alicia Gainey won the heptathlon shot put with a throw of 38-05 (11.71m).
The final events in the pentathlon and heptathlon will begin at 8:30 a.m. (ET) tomorrow.
Davidson swept the 10,000-meter runs with Lance Harden winning the men’s run with a time of 31:27.10 and Danielle Ruggieri winning the women’s with a time of 37:45.13.
In the men’s steeplechase, Samford’s Blaise Carie won with a time of 9:19.99.
The Bulldogs’ Hillary Neal made it a clean sweep for Samford by winning the women’s steeplechase in a Regional qualifying time of 10:41.38.
In the field, Appalachian State’s Shea Snow won the women’s pole vault with a vault of 12-01.50 (3.70m). With the win, the senior won her second-consecutive SoCon pole vault title. Samford’s Patrick Wells won the men’s pole vault with a Regional qualifying vault of 16-06.75 (5.05).
The Citadel’s Kevin Hardy won the men’s long jump with a leap of 23-09.50 (7.25m).
The Eagles’ Demetrise Anthony won the women’s long jump with a jump of 19-11.50 (6.08m). The leap was a NCAA Regional qualifying mark.
In the men’s hammer throw, Appalachian State’s Timothy Daly won with a throw of 181-05 (55.30m).
In the women’s javelin throw, Appalachian State’s Lily Tallent won with a throw of 129-00 (39.31m).
Appalachian State’s Whitney Smyre claimed the women’s hammer throw with a toss of 161-08 (49.27).
Western Carolina’s Matt Evans won the men’s javelin with a throw of 201-00 (61.28).
In the preliminaries in the 100 dash, Georgia Southern’s Demetrise Anthony qualified first in the women’s race with a time of 11.77 while Western Carolina’s Dominique Young, the defending champion in the men’s event, qualified first with a Regional qualifying time of 10.50. The 100 finals will begin at approximately 2:40 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
Western Carolina’s Manteo Mitchell began his defense of his 200-meter title by qualifying first in the 200 preliminaries. His time of 20.90 was a Regional qualifying mark. The Catamounts’ Jane’t Carothers qualified first with a time of 24.19.
In the preliminary rounds of the women’s 400 dash, WCU’s Jane’t Carothers qualified first with a time of 55.25. On the men’s side, Appalachian State’s John Svoboda qualified first with a time of 48.63. The 400 final will be run at approximately 2:20 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
In the 800-meter preliminaries, Chattanooga’s Anneli Uys qualified first with a Regional qualifying time of 2:08.99. On the men’s side, Appalachian State’s Nick O’Keefe qualified first with a time of 1:54.33. The 800 finals will be at approximately 3:20 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
The Citadel’s Jamel Brown qualified first in the preliminaries of the men’s 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.77, while the Mountaineers’ Michelle Brutus finished first in the women’s 100 hurdles with a time of 14.39. The finals of the hurdles will be tomorrow at approximately 3 p.m. (ET).
In the preliminaries of the women’s 400 hurdles, Georgia Southern’s Ashley Bush-Hardy took first with a time of 1:04.11. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs’ Brown qualified first in his second event of the afternoon by running the 400 hurdles in 54.01. The 400 hurdles finals will be at approximately 3:40 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
The final day of the 2009 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships will begin at 8:30 a.m. (ET) with the conclusion of the men’s pentathlon and women’s heptathlon. All of day two’s final results can be found at the conclusion of the championships on soconsports.com.
Men’s Team Standings
1. Appalachian State 82.5
2. Western Carolina 49
3. Samford 34.5
4. Davidson 25
5. The Citadel 13
T6. Furman 12
T6. UNC Greensboro 12
8. Wofford 5
9. Chattanooga 1
Women’s Team Standings
1. Appalachian State 84
2. Western Carolina 31
3. Elon 26
4. Georgia Southern 23
5. Samford 17
6. Chattanooga 15
T7. College of Charleston 13
T7. Davidson 13
9. The Citadel 11
T10. Furman 0
T10. UNC Greensboro 0
T10. Wofford 0