Western Carolina earns four victories in opening meet
Western Carolina’s track & field teams concluded its first meet of the 2011 indoor season Saturday at the Appalachian Indoor Invitational at the Holmes Convocation Center. The Catamounts posted 27 top-five finishes in the season opener which featured 16 teams.
In the field events, freshman Cara June Elyea picked up a second place finish in her first collegiate event in the pole vault. Elyea cleared the bar in 11-5.75. Classmate Alisha Bradshaw finished fourth in her first meet with a throw of 47-4.25 in the weight throw.
On the men’s side, Keith Leonard posted a third place finish in the pole vault with a jump of 14-6. Lawren Willard took second in the long jump with a leap of 23-1.75.
On the track, the Catamounts continued their storied tradition in the men’s and women’s relay teams. The quartet of Demari Boswell, Benny Davis, Brandon Hairston and Aaron Tribble won the relay with a time of 3:20.74. The women’s team placed second, crossing the line in 3:54.74.
The 2011 SoCon 400m Indoor runner-up Felisha Garren placed third in her first run of the season with a time of 56.57. In the 800m, the Catamounts took four out of the top five spots, with Jocelyn Keen picking up her first indoor win in the 800m with a time of 2:20.61. Lena Elliott (2:22.68) placed second while Kayla Lance (2:23.91) placed fourth with Hayley Tomlinson (2:25.15) taking fifth.
Freshman Xaviera Bass posted a top-five finish in her first collegiate race, finishing fifth with a time of 8.46.
In the men’s 400m, Brandon Hairston won the race in 49.42 while teammate Benny Davis placed second crossing the stripe in 49.62. Aaron Tribble finished sixth (50.08) and Demari Boswell seventh (50.32).
The Western Carolina distance runners posted high finishes on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Sophomore Mara Smith picked up her first win in the 3000m run, finishing in 10:40.71. Aleshia Reese placed second in 10:51.20 and Olivia Jacobs third in 11:00.96. In the men’s event, Nolan Clark placed second in 8:55.86 while Chase Fisher third finishing just behind Clark in 8:55.87.
The Catamounts will now take a month off before their next competition, which will take place on Jan. 13.
Appalachian State men tab four first-place finishes
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University men’s track and field started its 2011-12 campaign very strong with seven top-two finishers in the 16 team Appalachian Indoor Invitational at Holmes Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Dennis Moore ran the Mountaineers’ third fastest 55m dash time in school history with the blazing time of 6.31. Freshman Aaron Combs crossed the finish line first in the 800m run with a time of 1:55.27. Senior Darius Purcell cleared the 7-0.25 mark to finish first in the high jump. Sophomore Jamal Tiller recorded an impressive 50-0.75 triple jump performance to claim the Apps’ first first-place finish on Friday.
Junior Landon Powell earned a second place finish in the 55m dash (6.39) and a third place finish in the 200m dash (22.42). Freshman Daryl Saunders made his collegiate debut with a second-place finish in the high jump. Junior Jared Stalling rounded out the Mountaineers top performers with second-place finishes in the shot put and in the weight throw.
The Mountaineers will enjoy a month long break from competition before competing at the UNC Invitational on January 14 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Appalachian State women record five top-two finishers
BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University women’s track and field started its 2011-12 campaign very strong with five top-two finishers in the 16 team Appalachian Indoor Invitational at Holmes Convocation Center Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore Shaquiela Robinson moved up in ASU’s record book with a 5-8 high jump performance to be tied for fourth all-time. Freshman Chelsea Farr made her collegiate debut by winning the pole vault and becoming the fifth Mountaineer to clear 11-11.75. Junior Erika Ivey recorded a personal-best performance (40-1.50) in the triple jump.
Sophomore Breanna Alston ran a personal-best (7.08) in the 55m dash, while fellow sophomore Jocelyn Parnell grabbed a second-place finish (51-1.75) in the weight throw.
The Mountaineers will enjoy a month long break from competition before competing at the UNC Invitational on January 14 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Georgia Southern earns four top-three finishes
CLEMSON, S.C – Georgia Southern Track & Field scored four top-3 finishes to highlight the Eagles’ first meet of the indoor season at the annual Orange & Purple Winter Classic on Saturday. Multiple schools from the Southeast region competed at this year’s event.
Sophomore Asea Mayfield placed second in the 1000m Run (3:03.20) for the high finish of the day for the Eagles. In the same event, senior Azura Robillard finished eighth (3:16.03) and junior Talisha Rice ran to a ninth-place (3:16.07) finish.
Junior Jasmine Billings and sophomore Stephanie Hicks tied for third-place (8.76) in the 60m Hurdles. In the preliminaries, Billings clocked an 8.55 qualifying time which is the second fastest time in school history. The 8.76 time recorded by both runners in the finals ties for the fourth fastest in school history and was a personal best for Hicks.
In other track events, freshman Jasmine Walker finished in 11th place (7.75) in the 60m Dash, freshman Kimberly Thomas finished in 11th place (41.62) in the 300m Dash and junior Kristiana Towns finished in 16th place (1:20.47) in the 500m Dash to earn high finisher honors in each event for the Eagles.
In the Mile Run, senior Azura Robillard was the high Eagle finisher in 12th place (6:02.24) and in the 4X400 Meter Relay, the team of Cherrelle King, Ebony Carter, Mayfield and Thomas sprinted to a seventh-place (4:02.53) finish.
In field events, freshman Sara Hall paced the Eagles with a third-place (12.49m) finish in the Shot Put and an eighth-place (12.81m) finish in the Weight Throw.
Freshman Alexis Jacobs placed seventh (11.88m) in the Shot Put and Hicks placed seventh in the Long Jump (5.22m) to round out the top-10 finishes for the Eagles.
Georgia Southern Track and Field returns to action Jan. 12-13 when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama for the Blazer Invitational.