GILMER WINS 5,000M TO LEAD PALADINS IN SEASON OPENER
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Junior Lee Gilmer won the 5,000m with a time of 15:05.03 and the Paladin men took three out of the top five places in the event as the Furman indoor track and field teams opened the 2011 season Friday evening at the JRF Combined Events Invitational at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex. Senior Charlie McGoogan placed second in the event with a time of 15:14.30, while junior Jay Miller posted a personal-best time of 15:48.09 for fifth place.
In other men's events, sophomore Cortez Johnson placed sixth in the 60m dash with a personal record of 6.93, while fellow sophomore Raul Rodriquez posted a time of 7.26 for 20th place. Gary Robinson was 24th with a time of 7.40. Freshman James Perez finished ninth with a time of 1:57.87 in the 800m, and rookie Jackson Sinor was 26th in the event after recording a time of 2:08.38.
The Paladins competed in two field events Friday night, with junior Brian Toney placing tenth in the high jump at 1.80m, and sophomore Scott Des Marais taking 14th in the shot put with a mark of 12.30m.
For the Paladin women's team, sophomore Misha Holmes placed eighth in the finals of the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.27, while freshman Alexa Wilton was 21st in the event with a time of 9.72. Sophomore Hannah Robinson was eighth in the 5,000m after posting a time of 19:28.98, and junior Chloe Kowalski placed 12th with a time of 19:50.48.
Senior Monique Ositelu took 12th place in the 400m after recording a time of 1:00.94, and junior Erin McChristian posted a personal-best time of 1:05.76 for 32nd place. In the 800m, junior Erin Barker placed 17th with a time of 2:23.73, and freshman Kacie Shoen was 31st with a time of 2:37.02.
PALADINS COMPETE IN FINAL DAY OF CLEMSON INDOOR MEET
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Freshman Jack Klecker placed fifth in the mile with a time of 4:17.75 to lead Furman indoor track and field teams in the final day of the JRF Combined Events Invitational at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex. Sophomore Wilkerson Given was tenth in the event with a personal-best time of 4:28.51, and freshman James Perez placed 13th after recording a time of 4:29.22.
Junior Chris Caldwell finished sixth with a personal-record time of 8:47.90 in the 3000m. Freshmen Tyler Greathouse (9:23.90) and Quinn Lackey (9:55.31) placed 21st and 24th, respectively, in the event. In the 200m, sophomore Raul Rodriquez was 22nd with a time of 23.74, and junior Michael Kelly took 27th after posting a personal-best time of 25.43.
For the Furman women's team, senior Jenna Callahan placed ninth in the mile with a time of 5:16.17. Sophomore Emily Wirzba and freshman Catherine Burton placed back-to-back in the event, with Wirzba (5:20.50) in 11th place, and Burton (5:20.58) in 12th place.
In the 3000m, junior Rebecca Shelton (10:53.35) placed 13th, followed by freshman Julia Means (10:55.70) in 14th. Sophomore Haley Gray took 16th place in the event with a time of 11:07.23. Senior Starr Belmont placed 32nd in the 200m after turning in a time of 28.25.
The Paladins' 4x400m relay team of Callahan, sophomore Misha Holmes, junior Erin Barker, and freshman Alexa Wilton placed tenth with a time of 4:13.05.
Furman will compete at East Tennessee State February 4-5.
Curry Breaks Own Mark in 5,000 Meter Run To Pace Georgia Southern
CLEMSON, S.C. - Sophomore Sara Curry broke her own University record in the 5,000 meter run as the Georgia Southern Track & Field team competed at the JRF Combined Events Invitational at Clemson this weekend. Curry placed third with a time of 18:44.62, taking more than 23 seconds off the University mark she set a week ago at the Mountaineer Open in her first career 5,000 meter track event. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native, posted the third-best time in Eagle cross country history in the 5,000 meter race this past fall.
In events held Friday evening, Millicent Brooks-Millender had a distance of 11.96 meters in the Triple Jump for her best performance of the 2010-2011 season and a first-place finish in the event. Her mark currently ranks second in the Southern Conference. Natasha Creasy posted another solid performance in the shot put with a 12.51 meter distance for third place overall.
Freshman Stephanie Hicks won two of the five events in the Pentathlon and finished fourth overall with a 3,198 point total. Her first collegiate competition in this multi-event places her fourth on the Georgia Southern all-time list. Her point total is the best in the Southern Conference. She took first in the shot put (10.66m) and long jump (5.39m), second in the 60 meter Hurdles and third in the high jump. She finished the 800 meter Run, the final event, with a time of 2:54.48.
Hicks also competed in one individual event at the JRF Invitational, the Long Jump, and her attempt yielded a 5.39 distance for sixth place.
"We did well in some things, but we weren't as good in others," said Eagles Head Coach Natalie Smith. "Sara, Milli and Stephanie really did well at this meet. What more can you say about Sara's performance? Millie did a phenomenal job and she is one of themost dedicated and focused young ladies on our team. She works extremely hard and it is starting to pay off for her. Stephanie is a competitor who, in her first multi-event in her college career, held more than her own against a more experienced field. I'm really looking forward to what she will do as she has a few more opportunities leading up to the SoCon championships."
In the 60 meter Hurdles, sophomore Jasmine Billings placed sixth with her best time of the 2011 season, 9.03, coming in the preliminaries of the event. Junior Azura Robillard posted the best time of the season to date in the 800 meter Run, clipping two seconds off her previous season best with a 2:23.66.
Robillard started the Distance Medley Relay and Curry anchored with sophomore Kristiana Towns and freshman Asea Mayfield running the second and third leg, respectively, for a third-place finish with a time of 12:52.97. The 4X400 Relay team posted a time of 4:10.26 for seventh place.
Georgia Southern Track & Field travels next to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Carolina Invitational. Results will be posted online following the competition.
Western Carolina Competes at JRF Combined Events Invitational
CLEMSON, S.C. - Behind a strong showing in the 400-meter dash, Western Carolina posts three wins and 17 Top-5 finishes to conclude the JRF Combined Events Invitational.
Western Carolina started the meet off strong on Friday. The first win of the day came from the reigning SoCon Athlete of the Week, Jane't Carothers in the 400m dash. Carothers picked up her second career victory in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.31. Felisha Garren also posted her best time of the indoor season (56.69), good enough for 5th place. Shalyn McMichael also picked up a top-10 finish with a time of 58.35.
In the men's 400-meter dash, Benny Davis led the way for the Catamounts placing third with a time of 50.74. Sophomore Brandon Hairston finished one tenth of a second behind Davis for fourth place. Aaron Tribble placed seventh at 51.24
In the 60-meter dash, Janise Robinson ran a season fastest 7.74, which was also a personal best for the freshman.
Morgan Turner ran the 800m for the first time in the 2010-11 indoor season, and she ran her fastest indoor 800m time at 2:20.92.
On the men's side, Willie Bowman tied his personal best in the 60m (6.90), which he initially set in the team's last visit to Clemson on Jan. 8 for the Clemson Invitational. Ron Duncan earned eighth place with a time of 6.95.
The triple jump was also a very big event for the Catamounts with the purple and gold taking three of the top five positions. Junior Cornelius Williams picked up the victory with a meet best 14.31. Lawren Willard (14.13m) and Bob McNeil (13.85m) placed second and third respectively. Senior Drew Tucker posted a season best 1:54.89 in the 800m, finishing in third place.
The Western Carolina 4x400m relay teams had solid finishes with both the women and the men posting top times for the season. The women's "A" team finished second behind Auburn with a time of 3:48.33. The men's "A" and "B" teams took first and third place honors with times of 3:18.90 and 3:23.31. The "A" team finished over four seconds ahead of second place Auburn.
In the weight throw, senior Ryan Pless threw a personal best of 16.19m. Jamie Van Pelt and Daniel Alexis finished behind Pless with throws of 15.38m and 13.29m.
The Catamounts will be back in action next week to participate in the Niswonger Invitational in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Relays, Pentathlon Highlight Samford's Final Day At Clemson
CLEMSON, S.C. ---- The Samford University track and field teams rounded out the weekend with two school records at the JRF Combined Events Invitational hosted by Clemson University on Saturday.
"I feel the teams are getting better each week and will continue to improve," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "Overall, we have had two good meets with some new school records set in both meets, so I feel we are progressing nicely toward where we want to be for the conference championships.
"We had some injuries this week and several people are a little banged up, so we will take it easy and try to get everyone healthy over the next few weeks."
The men's 4x400-meter relay team set a new school record with a time of 3:23.48 which earned them fourth place in the event. The women's team finished eighth with a time of 4:10.93.
Ashley Cope finished third in the women's pentathlon as she posted a new school record of 3,211 points. Macy Conger finished eighth with 2,987 points.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Conger finished eighth with a time of 9.45 while Cope finished 10th with a time of 9.51. Conger placed second in the high jump with a leap of 5-02.25 while Cope placed fourth with a jump of 4-09.50.
Next was the shot put, where Cope placed fifth with a toss of 31-07.25 while Conger placed 13th with a toss of 22.10-75. In the long jump, Cope took third with a mark of 17-04.25 while Conger finished fifth with a mark of 17-00.00. Finally, in the 800 meters, Cope finished third with a time of 2:30.81 while Conger placed seventh with a time of 2:45.30.
Although none of the Samford men finished in the top 10 in the pentathlon, Brandon Bassett and Bo Ackerson-Gilroy rounded out the weekend with a personal best in a couple of events. Bassett ran a personal best of 3:11.26 in the 1000-meter run while Ackerson-Gilory posted a personal best in the pole vault with a height of 14-01.25.
Lauren D'Alessio won the women's mile run with a personal best of 4:54.25 while Holly Benson placed 10th with a time of 5:20.05. Scott Cope took third in the men's mile with a personal best of 4:17.32, and Ramsey White finished 11th with a personal best of 4:28.56.
In the women's 3000 meters, Deanna Zidar ran a personal best of 10:17.15 to finish second while Blaise Carie (8:35.64) and Layton Dorsett (8:44.19) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's event.
Madeline Cross ran a personal best in the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 26.32 to take 13th place. Julie McDonald followed in 29th place with a time of 27.95. In the men's event, Alex Richter placed eighth with a time of 22.92 while Jonathan Bush took 13th with a time of 23.33.
In the women's field events, Chenelle Terry placed second in the women's high jump with a mark of 5-07.00. In the pole vault, Mary Barron and Laura Bedsole both posted a mark of 11-03.75. However, Barron placed second and Bedsole placed fifth as Barron cleared the height in fewer jumps.
Shelby Builta took 16th in the women's weight throw with a toss of 38-09.00 while Kyle Kirby placed third in the men's weight throw with a toss of 55-01.00.
The Bulldogs will be back in action next weekend as they head to Johnson City, Tenn., to compete in the annual Niswonger Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
UNCG Track Finds Success in Opening Meet
LYNCHBURG, Va. - UNCG broke two school records on the women's side and the men's team had a 1-2 finish in the mile to lead the Spartans on Saturday at the Liberty Open in Lynchburg, Va.
"Things went pretty well overall for the team," said coach Linh Nguyen. "Although the times weren't as fast as we would have liked, that was the case for the whole meet and not just our team. We competed at the front of every race and ran well for the first time out. A lot of people ran off distances so it's good to see success in something that is not the athlete's main event. I think this gives us a good idea of where we are and the things we need to focus on going forward."
Ashley Schnell shattered the previous school record in the mile on the women's side as she ran a 5:00.68 to finish in first place. That time broke the previous school record set by Jess Weber in 2006 by just over 13 seconds.
Weber saw another one of her school records fall on Saturday as Shaina Sumney set a new mark in the 800 meters. Sumney's time of 2:20.60 earned her first place in the event and broke Weber's mark she set in 2008 by 1.15 seconds.
"Shaina broke a record in the 800 off of about 4 days of running after an injury," said Nguyen. "Ashley broke the record in the mile running alone the whole way. All in all, a solid start to the season."
On the men's side, Joey Thompson and Jermaine Coore ran to a 1-2 finish in the mile. Thompson finished the race in a time of 4:24.95 to earn top honors, while Coore was right on his heels to finish in 4:25.22 to earn runner-up honors.
John Teeter also had a nice afternoon as he set a new personal-best in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:37.68 to finish in 13th place.
"Jermaine ran very well in the mile, leading the whole way only to get nipped by Joey at the line," said Nguyen. "Joey's race was good as well considering he couldn't run for 5 of the last 6 weeks."
The Spartans will be back in action next weekend at a pair of prestigious events. Some runners will head up to South Bend, Ind. for the Meyo Invitational, while others will go to Johnson City, Tenn. for the Niswonger Invitational.
Bulldog Women Set Personal Bests on Day One of Captain's Invitational
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Bulldog relay teams set school records on day one of the Captain's Invitational as the women's track and field team opened the 2011 indoor season on Friday, Jan. 28. The final day of competition resumed on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 10 a.m.
The 4x800m relay, comprised of Micah Wessinger, Danielle McKee, Suzanne Gay and Christina Shonbeck, finished in first place in a school record time of 10:04.96 minutes. The Bulldogs entered two teams for the 4X200m relay with each finishing the race establishing a school record. Sarah Creel, Chalita Johnson, Francesca McCrary and Caitlyn Lees set the mark with a time of 1:52.01 minutes as they finished in third place, while Nicole Levermann, Vanessa Hope, Christine Hinds and Andriana Love finished fifth running a time of 1:52.98 minutes setting a freshman school record.
In the 60m dash, Johnson qualified for the finals on day two with a personal-best time of 8.12 seconds, moving her into number three all-time in The Citadel's top-10 list. Creel also qualified for the finals on day two when she ran a time of 8.26 seconds. Although her time was not enough to qualify, Hinds did run an
8.44 seconds establishing a personal-best and became ninth all-time.
In the 60m hurdles McCrary, Hope, Love and Levermann each qualified for the finals on day two. McCray finished with a time of 10.67 seconds, while Love and Hope both established career best becoming No. 7 and No. 9 on the Bulldogs all-time list, respectively. Levermann moved to third all-time as she posted a time of 10:00 seconds.
Levermann's 60m hurdles established a best as did her performance in the long jump. She finished in 13th with a mark of 14' 3" and is now eighth all-time for The Citadel.
In other events, Kasandra Polson placed second in the 20 lb. weight throw with a mark of 40' 7.75", setting a new personal best for sixth place on the all-time list. Anna Fuzy followed finishing in third place with her mark of 39' 0.25". Mia Trevino and Whitney Nave rounded out the event among the top nine in sixth and eighth place, respectively, each with personal best marks. Trevino threw a 37' 7.75" becoming ninth all-time, while Nave completed the competition with a mark of 31' 1.25".
The men's squad will begin their season on Saturday at the Wesley A. Brown Invitational in Annapolis,
Md. A recap and results will follow at the conclusion of both meets.
Bulldog Men Earn Top Finishes While Breaking School Records at Wesley A. Brown Invitational
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Citadel men's track and field team recorded three first place finishes with two breaking school records on Saturday, Jan. 29 at the Wesley A. Brown Invitational. Hosted by the United States Naval Academy, the meet also featured teams from LaSalle, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and William and Mary.
In rout to setting personal best records, red-shirt senior Christopher Castagno and sophomore David Miller both finished the meet setting school records in the 35 lb. weight throw and the 400m dash, respectively. Castagno earned a first place finish as he threw a mark of 57' 00.25", while Miller recorded the same feat in the 400m dash, as he posted a time of 48.10 seconds. Junior Kevin Hardy's jump of 23' 08.25" also tallied a first place finish for the Bulldogs in the long jump. Hardy also took over the second all-time spot in school history in the 60m dash with his personal-best time of 6.93 seconds for first place in the preliminary round. He finished third during the finals.
Also with highlight performances from the meet, three Cadets earned fourth place all-time on The Citadel's top 10 list. Senior James Harris logged a third place finish in the high jump with a career best mark of 6' 08.25", while sophomore Kyle Keene's time of 15:18.93 minutes in the 5,000m earned a 13th place finish. Freshman Christopher Sievert ran a time of 8.62 seconds coming in ninth during the preliminary round of the 60m hurdles, narrowly missing the qualifications for the finals.
In the mile, sophomore Jordan Ashley became ninth all-time on the Bulldogs top-10 list while posting a time of 4:27.07 minutes as he crossed the finish line in 20th place. Sophomore Atom Young just missed a spot on the program's top-10 list as he recorded a career best time of 9:00.33 minutes also coming in 20th place.
Up next for the Bulldogs, the team will travel to Johnson City, Tenn. for the Niswonger Invitational to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12.
Wessinger Sets School Record in the 600m on the Final Day of the Captain's Invitational
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Sophomore Micah Wessinger ran to the top of The Citadel's all-time list in the 600m when she recorded a first place time of 1:37.68, as The Citadel women's track and field team concluded the Captain's Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 29.
Red-shirt senior Natalie Wolin also crossed the finish line first in the 3,000m run with a time of 11:12.56.
She paced teammates freshman Christine Shonbeck and senior Suzanne Gay who concluded the race in second and third place, respectively. Shonbeck finished with a time of 11:12.77 becoming fifth all-time in the school's record books, while Gay set a new personal best with a time of 11:13.05 becoming sixth alltime.
Freshman Danielle McKee notched a second place finish in the 1,000m run as her time of 3:13.36 earned her the third place spot in The Citadel's top-10 list. McKee teamed with Vanessa Hope, Nicole Levermann and Andriana Love to set the program's freshman record in the 4X400m relay team. Their time of 4:19.15 earned them a fifth place finish.
After qualifying for the finals of the 60m hurdles on Friday, Levermann finished sixth with a time of 9.78 beating her previous mark as she maintains the third spot on the all-time list. Love also improved her mark from the preliminary rounds as she posted a time of 10.94 maintaining the No. 7 all-time position. Junior Francesca McCrary finished the race in 10th place with a time of 10.79.
In the 400m dash, Hope became ninth all-time when she ran a time of 1:05.44 for a seventh place finish, while Chalita Johnson and Sarah Creel notched the sixth and ninth place, respectively, on The Citadel's top-10 list in the 60m dash.
In the 200m dash, Johnson's time of 27.98 would have earned her the No. 10 spot on the school's alltime list, however, Christine Hinds captured that position when she posted a time of 27.83.
In the field events, Love recorded the fifth all-time spot with her throw in the shot put as she placed second with a mark of 36' 07". Kasandra Polson recorded a personal best throw in the same event earning a mark of 34' for a fourth place finish and seventh all-time.
Up next for the Bulldogs, the team will travel to Johnson City, Tenn. for the Niswonger Invitational to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 11-12.