Davidson Performs Well at JDL College Kickoff

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  – The Davidson women’s indoor track & field team opened the 2012-13 season on Saturday when they competed in the JDL College Kickoff Classic hosted at the JDL Fast Track.

Fresh off a solid cross country season, Natalie Atabek kicked off indoor season with a first-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:03.73. Teammate Manya Swick was second in the event with an 18:23.02, and was followed by Erin Osment in third at 18:30.42. Lauren Carter crossed fourth in 19:18.47.

Anna Armistead took fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a 10:58.71 for a career best in the event.

In the 500-meter run, Ashley Paige took 26th with a time of 1:30.05. Teammate Ashlyn Gruber ran a 3:15.28 in the 1,000-meter run making her collegiate debut for the Wildcats. Gracie Gordon ran a 45.00 in the 300-meter dash.

A trio of Wildcats finished in the top four of the mile run, headlined by Olivia Menden’s second-place finish in a time of 5:22.59. Brigid Behrens crossed the line in 5:22.64 for third and was followed by Sarah Paddon in fourth at 5:23.46. Maggie Rickard clocked in at 5:57.42 for eighth place.

Molly Marshall took eighth in the pole vault with a height of 2.90 meters for the ‘Cats in the field events.

The Wildcats will not compete again until after Christmas break, when they head back to Winston-Salem on January 19 to compete in the Wake Forest Invitational. That event will also take place at the JDL Fast Track.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Davidson men had multiple top-10 finishes in the mile and 3000-meter runs in the indoor season-opening JDL College Kickoff Classic Saturday at the JDL FastTrack.

Sophomore Chris Repecki scored the Wildcats’ top finish of the day with a fifth in the 3000m in nine minutes, 6.15 seconds, and he was followed by freshman Aaron Forburger, who finished sixth in 9:12.47.

Sophomore Whitner Chase paced the ‘Cats in the mile with a seventh-place finish in 4:28.20, and was followed by freshman Patrick Rollo in 4:30.03 in ninth.

Other top-10 performances included junior Jamie Durling placing sixth in the 5000-meter run in 15:57.72, and Michael Lorentsen clearing 13 feet, 5 1?4 inches (4.10m) in the pole vault to place eighth.

Sophomore Wesley Laytham earned a place on Davidson’s top-10 performers list in the 1000-meter run with a time of 2:37.29 to place 12th. Classmate Will Mitchell followed in 13th in 2:37.53.

Cyrus Bahram ran the second-fastest 300-meter dash in Davidson history in 37.40 seconds. Xzavier Killings led Davidson in the sprints crossing in 7.37 60-meter dash preliminaries.

Davidson will next compete at the Wake Forest Invitational at the JDL FastTrack and the Niswonger Invitational hosted by East Tennessee State on Jan. 19.

Elon Breaks Records at Liberty Kickoff

LYNCHBURG, Va. – Freshman Megan Kirschling and sophomore Louise Prevoteau highlighted a number of record-breaking performances for the Elon track and field team in the Phoenix’s season-opening meet at the Liberty Kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 1. Kirschling set a new mark in the high jump with a height of 5’8” while Prevoteau captured the women’s pentathlon title with a school-record 3,572 points inside the Tolsma Indoor Track Center.

Kirschling’s mark clinched her the title in the high jump competition and broke Prevoteau’s old record of 5’5.75” that was set last season. Prevoteau had a strong day herself as the defending Southern Conference Indoor pentathlon champion had great performances in the multi-event competition winning the long jump and the 800-meter run.

In the throwing events, sophomore Charlise Morgan was the runner-up in the shot-put with a new personal-best throw of 43’03.25”, breaking her own mark for second-best on the all-time performance list. Teammate Kimberlyn Holt threw a distance of 38’09” in her first collegiate meet at Elon.

The Phoenix was equally impressive in sprints with Bria Bell and Veronica Luedke finishing second and third in the 400-meter dash. Bell ran a time of 58.48, while Luedke ran a personal-record of 58.76, moving her to fourth on the record list. A couple freshmen for the maroon and gold stood out and set new marks in the 60-meter hurdles with Sydney Griffin coming in third with a time of 8.77, now second-best in school history. Fellow freshman Jennifer Esposito was seventh with her mark of 9.04, the third best time on the performance list.

Griffin followed that with a great performance in the 200-meter dash finishing fourth with a time of 25.83, breaking into the top-five in on the record list. Bell was not too far off with a mark of 26.04 and a sixth place standing.

The women’s 4x400 relay team just missed on winning its third consecutive title at Liberty, finishing second behind the Lady Flames and had a time of 3:58.34.

In field event competition, Janelle McNeil and Marie Borowycz finished seventh and eighth respectively with jumps of 35'10" and 35'9.25" in the triple jump. Haley Laird also performed in the high jump with Kirschling and finished in third with a cleared height of 5’2”.

Elon will enjoy a long extended break from competition before returning to action on Jan. 23 at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Crawford Record-Breaking Day Leads Appalachian Women

BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University women’s track team finished day two of the Appalachian Invitational strong as they junior Cassie Crawford broke her own App State Holmes Center record in the pole vault this afternoon and a Holmes Center record.

Crawford tied her personal-best 3.85m from the Southern Conference Indoor Championships in 2012. The Mountaineers took the top three spots in the pole vault as freshman Audrey Diener finished second with a 3.70m jump and sophomore Chelsea Farr placed third with a 3.55m jump.

Also in field events sophomore Jasmine Suydam finished third overall in the shot put with a 12.97m throw and junior Breanna Alston finished first in the long jump with a 5.69m jump. Sophomore Tatyana Bryant rounded out the top three spots as she finished third with a 5.50m jump in the long jump.

Alston finished the afternoon with a second place finish in the 55m dash crossing the line at 7.02, while junior Breahna Morrison finished first in the 200m dash and third in the 400m dash.

Senior D’Shawrna McLucas crossed the line second in the 300m dash with a 43.03, while sophomore Taryn Stern finished second in the 800m run with a 2:19.68.

Senior Amanda Hamilton paced the Apps in distance as she broke an App State Holmes Center record after running a 10:06.45 and finishing first overall.

Appalachian State will be back in action after winter break on Friday, Jan. 18 when they host the Mountaineer Open Meet at the Holmes Convocation Center.

Rojas and Moen Lead Apps in First Men’s Indoor Meet

BOONE, N.C. – Appalachian State University men’s track team finished strong on day two of the Appalachian Invitational as they saw App State Holmes Center records broken by both sophomore Raphael Rojas and senior Chris Moen.

Rojas broke the 800m run record when he crossed the line at 1:53.60, breaking the record held by teammate Alex Taylor, while Moen crossed the line at 8:26.34 in the 3,000m to hold the new App State Holmes Center record. Both runners finished first overall in their events.

The Mountaineers took home the top two places in the 200m dash as senior Justin Thomas finished first with a 22.44 and freshman Marshall McRae finished right behind with a 22.67.

The Black and Gold finished second in the 4x300m relay and the team of Tyler Combs, Chase Helton, Read Caulkins, and Rojas finished second in the 4x400m relay with a 3:24.38.

Freshman Cole Finch finished second in the high jump for the Apps as he jumped 1.96m and freshman Henry Bustle finished first in the long jump with a 7.17m jump. Sophomore Alex Lomax rounded out field event scoring for App State as he finished third in the pole vault with a 4.45m jump.

Appalachian State will be back in action after winter break on Friday, Jan. 18 when they host the Mountaineer Open Meet at the Holmes Convocation Center.

Catamounts Win Eight Events in Indoor Opener

WCU set records in both 4x300-meter relays and also the 300-meter dash Saturday

Western Carolina track & field wrapped up the opening meet of the 2012-13 indoor season Saturday in Boone, N.C., for the Appalachian Invitational. Both the men’s and women’s 4x300-meter relays teams opened the season by setting school and facility records at Appalachian State.

The women’s team – consisting of Brittany Diggs, Tayla Carter, Janise Robinson and Shiniqua Pryor – won the 4x300-meter relay with a time of 2:43.91. The men’s team – consisting of Aaron Tribble, Jerry Wickerson, Marquise Bailey and Brandon Hairston – also won the event with a time of 2:21.88 besting Appalachian State who placed second with a time of 2:22.80. Both relay teams broke the previous women’s and men’s WCU records while the two times were also Holmes Center track records.

Freshman Tayla Carter was involved in a second new record Saturday as the Marietta, Ga., native won the 300-meter dash with a time of 40.17. That time broke the 40.24 time that was established back in 1996 by Shawnta Person at the Clemson Opener (40.24). Tayla Carter picked up third victory of the day – second individual – in the 55-meter dash, winning the event with a time of 6.99. Teammates Raven Parrish (7.18) and Janise Robinson (7.27) placed third and fourth, respectively.

The men’s team also excelled in the 55-meter dash with freshman Jerry Wickerson as the first collegiate runner with his time of 6.38 while Brandon Hairston took third in 6.47.

In the women’s 55-meter hurdles, junior Brittany Diggs took first place with her time of 8.58.

The 400-meters is traditionally a strong event for the Catamounts and the 2012-13 team began the season continuing the tradition as WCU swept both sides of the event. Sophomore Genevieve Emrick ran a strong 57.42 to pick up her first win of 2012 with teammates Shiniqua Pryor (58.02), Corina Archie-McMillan (58.45) and Kendra Douglas (58.75)  taking second, fourth and fifth. For the men, Earl Rahming (48.91) took the victory with Aaron Tribble (49.22) and Demari Boswell (49.91) rounding out the top three.

The women’s 800m saw defending SoCon champion Jocelyn Keen continuing her winning ways early as the junior won the event by more than six seconds, finishing in 2:13.24. Lena Elliott (third) ran a 2:21.36 while Hayley Tomlinson (fourth) crossed the line in 2:21.73.

The final women’s victory of the day came in the one mile run as Kaylan Lance (5:28.74) and Katlyn Shetler (5:31.31) went one-two in the race.

In the men’s 300m, Brandon Hairston was again the top collegiate finisher running a 35.80 as Jerry Wickerson (35.80) and Marquis Bailey (37.65) were second and fourth.

The Catamounts now take time off for exams and the winter holidays before opening up 2013 in Clemson, S.C., at the Tiger Challenge on January 11.

Eagles Set Personal Bests at First Meet of the Season

 

CLEMSON, S.C. – The future is bright for The Georgia Southern Track and Field team, as they received strong contributions from several freshmen at Clemson’s Orange and Purple Classic in Clemson, S.C. Nia Hill, Taylor Johnson, Aliya Parker, Ashleigh Rasheed, Kelsey Chandler, Alyssa Felton, Camryn Coleman and Jazmine Johnson all competed for the Eagles on Saturday. Several other Eagles set personal bests.

Freshmen duo Nia Hill and Taylor Johnson combined for a solid performance in the Pentathlon. Hill finished fourth in the 60m Hurdle (9.87) and Long Jump (5.21m), while Johnson put out a solid performance in the 800m Dash part, coming in 6th (2:48.52).

Senior Ebony Carter proved that she is ready to finish out her career strong. The veteran finished second in the 60m Dash (7.59), running only .05 slower than her personal best which is the second fasted time in Georgia Southern history.

Junior Amber Vaugn also claimed a top three spot, finishing third in the high jump with a mark of 1.55m.

In the 500m Dash junior Cherelle King and sophomore Kimberly Thomas finished neck and neck, coming in fourth (1:17.54) and fifth (1:17.72) place respectively, both setting new personal-bests. Junior Asea Mayfield also claimed a top five spot, finishing fifth in the 1000m Run (3:04.37), the fastest she's ever run that event as well.

Alexis Jacobs and Chandler showed that the throwers are also a force to be reckoned with this year, placing 5th (14.01) and 6th (13.55) in the Weight Throw.

The 4x400 Relay squads also contributed today with the team consisting of Dana Edwards, King, Parker and Thomas finishing fifth (3:58.68), and the team with Vaugn, Rasheed, Mayfield and Felton coming in sixth (4:05.46).

In the preliminaries of the 60m Hurdles, both Lauren Toomer and Dana Edwards broke their personal records with respective times of 9.13 and 9.31.

The Eagles return to action after the New Year, traveling to Birmingham, Ala. to compete in University of Alabama’s Blazer Invitational starting at 7:00 p.m.