SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2012 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championship is set for Thursday and Friday (February 23-24) at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala.
This will be the first year the championship will be held in the 4,000-seat facility that contains a hydraulic track. The championship will begin Thursday at 10:00 a.m. with the women’s pentathlon, followed by the men’s heptathlon events at 10:15 a.m. The awards ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Friday at 4:55 p.m.
The event is free to the public. Live results, daily recaps, daily photos and video highlights can be found on the Southern Conference website.
The Appalachian State men and women claimed the indoor titles last year. It was the men’s third consecutive title, while the women earned their ninth since 2000.
There are 12 student-athletes returning to this year’s championship looking to defend their 2011 individual titles.
On the men’s side, Appalachian State’s Darius Purcell will seek to improve on his championship record high jump of 2.18m (7” 1.75”), which was set last year. In the women’s competition, College of Charleston’s Dena O’Brien looks to break her 5,000m championship record which was set last year with a time of 16:46.59.
In the most recent power rankings, which include meets through Feb. 20, Appalachian State leads in both the men’s and women’s standings, followed by Samford. Western Carolina rounds out the top three on both the men’s and women’s side.
The rankings are determined by the top eight times or scores that are reported by the schools for each event that will be conducted at this weekend’s championships.
Men's Indoor Track and Field Power Rankings
Appalachian State 188
Samford 149
Western Carolina 112
The Citadel 59
UNCG 58
Davidson 44
Furman 22
Chattanooga 18
Wofford 4
Women's Indoor Track and Field Power Rankings
Appalachian State 158
Samford 114
Western Carolina 89
Elon 78
Georgia Southern 71
UNCG 62
College of Charleston 49
Furman 28
The Citadel 11
Chattanooga 4
Wofford 1
Davidson 0