Chattanooga track & field opens season at USF Bulls Invitational
TAMPA, Fla. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga track teams opened the 2012 Outdoor season Friday afternoon at the USF Bulls Invitational and came away with two wins and a runner up.
Junior Lucas Cotter claimed the title in the men’s 1500 meter run with a PR time of 3:51.92, outdistancing runners from Kentucky, Alabama and Louisville.
Junior Joshue Vasquez placed eighth in the event with a time of 3:57.67.
Senior Emmanuel Kirwa claimed the title in the men’s 3000 meter run in his final season of competition. He finished with a time of 8:35.79, more than half a second ahead of South Florida’s Philip Wise.
Senior Chris Berry just missed making it a trifecta for the Mocs top three runners, placing second in the men’s 5000 meter run with a time of 14:34.86, more than one second off the lead pace of 14:33.72 set by Embry-Riddle’s Evans Kirwa (no relation to UTC’s Emmanuel Kirwa). Sophomore Mark Cole was fourth for the Mocs with a time of 15:18.05 in his first race.
Freshman Dezerick Frazier placed seventh in the men’s 400 meter dash with a time of 48.69, just missing the school record by .34 seconds.
On the women’s side, sophomore Amanda Sumner placed seventh in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:37.16 and freshman Keeley Stewart was fifth in the 3000 meter run with a time of 10:29.63.
The Mocs will return to action March 31 at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational in Atlanta.
UNCG concludes day one at Wake Forest Open
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The UNCG track and field team concluded its first day of competition at The Wake Forest Open on Friday, highlighted by Brian Carrington’s third-place showing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and a trio of top-10 performances on the women’s side.
Carrington turned in a time of 9:39.84 to capture UNCG’s high finish of the day. Taylor Day finished 14th in the event with a time of 10:00.26.
Taylor Hurst paced a trio of Spartans in the 800 meters, finishing 10th overall in a time of 1:54.94.
On the women’s side, Ginny Cronley placed sixth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:45.65. Shannon Hall finished ninth in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 2:15.81. Kelly Montague crossed the line in eighth place of the 3,000m steeplechase, setting a new personal record of 11:40.06.
The Wake Forest Open resumes Saturday morning.
Furman’s Haughey, Barker set new Paladin records at Charlotte 49ers Classic
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Freshman Sinead Haughey won the 5,000m, setting a new Paladin record with a time of 16:58.38, and senior Erin Barker established a new Furman record, placing second in the women’s 1,500m with a time of 4:29.62, to lead the Furman outdoor track and field teams in the 2012 season opener Friday at the Charlotte 49er Classic at the Irwin Belk Track in Charlotte, N.C.
Senior Lee Gilmer finished seventh in the men’s 1,500m after recording a time of 3:55.57. The Paladin men’s team placed four other men among the top-20 in the event, as freshman Tripp Hurt placed ninth with a time of 3:56.12 and sophomore James Perez took 11th place (3:57.25). Junior Wilkerson Given finished 14th after posting a time of 3:58.50, and sophomore Jack Klecker placed 19th (4:01.35).
In Friday’s field events, Brian Toney placed 14th with a mark of 47.07 (154-5) in the javelin, and freshman Danielle Ebzery posted a mark of 4.85 (15-11) for 20th place in the long jump.
The meet will conclude on Saturday. Field events begin at 10 a.m., followed by running events beginning at 10:15 a.m.
Western Carolina concludes day one of 49er Classic
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--Western Carolina’s men’s and women’s track & field teams wrapped up the first full day of the 49er Classic at Belk Track on the campus of UNC Charlotte. The heptathlon and decathlon wrapped up Friday with a portion of the field events taking place along with distance events and preliminaries for the sprints.
The multis finished up Friday with two Catamounts finishing in the top ten. In the women’s heptathlon, freshman Anne Greer finished with 3901 points for a fifth place finish. Junior Luke Burton placed sixth in the men’s decathlon with 5938 points.
The field events were highlighted by senior Jamie Van Pelt’s fourth place finish in the hammer throw. Van Pelt threw a best 54.99m in the event.
In the women’s field events, freshman Aleisha Archie McMillan picked up a top-five finish in the discus. Archie McMillan placed fifth with a 40.51m throw. Kayla Heineike (3.20m) and Alisha Bradshaw (44.19m) both placed 10th in the pole vault and hammer, respectively.
Junior Mara Smith was Western Carolina’s top finisher in the distance events. The junior finished fourth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:44.01.
In the sprints, Western Carolina qualified 10 for the finals. Three Catamounts will run in the women’s 400-meter run tomorrow afternoon. Felisha Garren ran the fastest overall time in the heats with a time of 54.86. Freshmen Genevieve Emrick and Lena Elliott ran fourth and sixth in the event with times of 56.59 and 57.31.
In the men’s 400-meter run, Benny Davis and Aaron Tribble qualified for the finals. Davis also qualified for the men’s 200-meter dash with a preliminary time of 21.43. Wrapping up the men’s qualifiers were sophomores Tyler Bentley and Sam Lusty in the 400-meter hurdles. In the women’s 400-meter hurdles, freshman Michaela Birek will participate in the finals.
Saturday’s events begin at 10:00 a.m. with the men’s shot put and the women’s javelin. The running events will begin with the women’s 2000-meter steeplechase at 10:15 a.m. The meet concludes with the men’s 4x400-meter relay at 4:50 p.m. Live results can be found at CatamountSports.com.