Georgia Southern Track and Field Produces Five Personal Best Times
STATESBORO, Ga. - Sophomore Ebony Carter recorded a personal best in the 100 meter Dash at the War Eagle Invitational this weekend. The Rome, Ga., native ran an 11.91, taking .04 seconds off her previous top performance. Carter's mark ranks second in the Southern Conference in the 100 meter Dash and she is third overall in the 200 meter Dash. Georgia Southern Track and Field traveled to Auburn's Nutsell-Rosen Track for a final regular-season meet before the Southern Conference Championships next weekend.
Four other personal bests occurred at the War Eagle Invitational this weekend as Racquel Daly nearly grabbed the top Eagle time for 2011 in the 400 Meter Dash. Daly's 58.19 performance was just .05 seconds behind the season-best posted by Morgan Jefferson last weekend at the Seminole Invitational. Dana Edwards improved her personal best in the 400 meter Hurdles with a time of 65.76.
Junior Brittani Martin took 17 seconds off her previous best in the 5,000 meter Run and Cherelle King shaved .03 seconds off her best time of the season in the 200 meter Dash. Asea Mayfield, who set the top time for 2011 in the 800 meter run last month, missed her mark by a mere .05 seconds (2:17.96).
Senior Shaunta Hamilton placed 11th overall in the Triple Jump with a distance of 38'5.5" and competed in the Long Jump (17'11.75").
Georgia Southern competes next at the 25th annual Southern Conference Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The event will be held in Birmingham, Ala., at Samford's Track and Soccer Stadium Friday and Saturday, April 22-23.
Elon Track and Field Earns Two Titles at UNC
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Members of the Elon track and field team endured the inclement weather in the Chapel Hill area and brought home two titles from the Kent Taylor-Joe Hilton Invitational. The meet, held on the University of North Carolina campus at the Belk Track at Fetzer Field, also saw a new school record set for the Phoenix in the long jump.
Elon excelled in the 200-meter dash, in which Amy Salek took first with a time of 25.43. Kayleigh Birks and Cara Hughes also earned spots on the podium coming in second and third after posting times of 25.60 and 25.90, respectively. Dana Cataldo rounded out the top five in the event finishing in 26.06.
Veronica Ludeke won a title for Elon in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 1:02.42, while Melissa Turowski finished sixth in 1:14.18.
Brittany Wilkins set a new school record in the long jump, which was contested indoors, with a leap of 19'3.5" that earned her fourth. Veronica Day took fifth in the event with a jump of 19'.75".
The 4x100-meter relay team, comprised of Birks, Cataldo, Day and Luedke, finished third after posting a time of 47.19.
Birks earned the best time for Elon in the 100-meter preliminaries with a third-place qualifying time of 12.47. Cataldo was fifth with a time of 12.54 and Hughes came in sixth with a time of 12.55.
Sarah Skogen (57.71) was the top finisher in the 400-meter dash for the Phoenix taking 11th, while Lauren Wilmer (57.75) earned 12th.
In the triple jump, which was also held indoors, Wilkins took fifth with a jump of 37'6.5" and Lauren Hawkesworth finished sixth with a mark of 37'5.75.
The Elon track and field team will next compete in the 2011 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which willbe contested on Friday, April 22 - Saturday, April 23, in Birmingham, Ala.
Western Carolina Posts 25 Top Finishes as WCU Invitational
CULLOWHEE, N.C. - Western Carolina track & field hosted the 2011 WCU Invitational Friday at the Catamount Athletic Complex. The Catamounts finished with 25 first-place finishes and 67 top-five finishes on a cloudy Friday afternoon.
A week after logging a new personal best, senior Kassie McKie shattered her week old record of 11-11 ¾, successfully clearing the bar at 12-6 ¼, winning the event. McKie was followed by sophomore Ashley Wala (10-2) in second place and junior Summer Hughes (9-4) in third.
In the women's 100-meter dash, Catamounts took three out of the top four spots. WCU was led by Felicia Paulding, who finished the race at the top spot in 11.87. Freshman Janise Robinson placed second behind in her classmate in 12.32.
Senior Zakiyyah Stewart-Bryant continued on her winning ways, outmatching the competition in the hammer and the discus. Stewart-Bryant won the discus throw - out throwing her nearest competitor by 24 feet- with a throw of 142-6. She won the hammer event with a throw of 166-6.
Western Carolina dominated the discus, with Catamounts taking the top five spots, with Jamie Van Pelt coming out on top. Van Pelt's winning throw went 147-4. Ryan Pless placed second (140-11) and Johnathan Newton placed third (132-3). Van Pelt also came away with a win in the hammer with a best throw of 173-11.
Freshman Jordan Orr scored a team-best and personal best in the high jump event. The Robbinsville, N.C.-native won the event with a 6-7 jump.
In the men's 200-meter dash, Brandon Hairston and Benny Davis finished 1-2, with both student-athletes earning season-bests in the event. Hairston crossed the line in 21.78 while Davis finished just behind Hairston with a time of 21.82. Hairston also won the 400-meter dash in 48.54.
Senior Shalyn McMichael crossed the line first in the women's 400-meter dash. She finished in 58.09, followed closely by teammate Tsanni Collier.
Junior Jordan Blazer came away with wins in both the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. The wins were the first of the season for the Canton, N.C. native.
Sophomore Morgan Turner ran a season-best 4:41.03 in the 1500-meter run. Four additional Catamounts followed her in the event.
Three Western Carolina freshmen led the way in the 800-meter run. Jocelyn Keen placed first with a time of 2:19.65. Classmates Kaylan Lance (2:21.63) placed second with Hayley Tomlinson (2:22.20) taking third.
The Catamounts will be back in action as WCU heads to Birmingham, Ala., next Friday for the 2011 SoCon Outdoor Championships.