Elon Competes at Wake Forest Invitational
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.  – The Elon University women’s track and field team began the 2014 indoor campaign at the Wake Forest Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 11, inside the JDL Fast Track Indoor Complex.

Competing in its first meet as a team since May of last season, the maroon and gold had a few strong showings for head coach Mark Elliston.

Elon had a strong performance overall in the 400-meters with Jennifer Esposito and Jennifer Pash moving into the program’s top-five on the all-time performance list. Esposito won her heat with a time of 58.54, moving into fourth-place all-time in school history, and finished eighth overall. Pash was 10^th in the race with a time of 58.81, the fifth-best mark all-time at Elon.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Sydney Griffin and Esposito ran qualifying times of 9.01 and 9.25 respectively and just missed out on making the finals. Simone Jackson just missed breaking into the program’s top-five all-time list in the 60-meter dash with her qualifying time of 7.93. Bria Turner (8.02) and Kayleigh Birks (8.28) also competed in the race for the Phoenix.

Griffin was the Phoenix’s top runner in the 200-meter dash as the sophomore finished with a time of 25.72. Jackson and Turner were first and second in their heat with times of 26.65 and 27.24, respectively.

Birks set a new personal-record in the weight throw with a toss of 47’1” (14.35m) and was seventh overall in the event. Kimberlyn Holt finished in the top-10 with a throw of 46’0” (14.02). Holt also threw in the shot put and finished 12^th with a mark of 37’8.75” (11.50m).

Megan Kirschling was fifth in the high jump after clearing the bar at 5’3.75” (1.62m). Freshman Carrie Abraham also cleared the bar at the same height, but finished seventh after needing more attempts.

Elon performed well in the 3,000-meters taking three of the top five spots. Sabina Bains was the first Phoenix runner to cross the finish line in third place with her time of 10:57.55. Following Bains was Kylie Womack (10:58.40, 4^th) and Emily Dunne (11:01.68, 5^th), respectively. Jackie Madden ran a time of 2:24.27 in the 800-meter run, finishing in the top-10.

In the jumps, Abraham leaped a mark of 36’3” (11.05m) in the triple jump and was tenth in the event. Marie Borowycz was the Phoenix’s top finisher in the long jump with a distance of 16’8”.

The Phoenix 4x400 “A” relay team of Bria Bell, Samantha Brown, Pash and Esposito finished with a time of 4:03.2, good for sixth overall.

 

Georgia Southern Competes at UAB Blazer Invite
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sherril McFarlane set the Georgia Southern record in the 800m Run Saturday with a 2:13.06 time in the race, good for third place among collegiate competitors and fourth place overall. McFarlane lowered the Eagles’ program record, from the 2012 season, by 2.33 seconds. At one point today, she also had the meet record.

Georgia Southern’s 4X400m Relay Team of Dana Edwards, Kimberly Thomas, McFarlane and Asha Stegall took a second off its previous best time this season with a 3:51.98. That time placed the Eagles in eighth-place among 38 teams. Six relay teams, including three SEC, two Conference USA and one ACC team finished ahead of Georgia Southern with Florida setting the Birmingham Crossplex facility record with its first-place finish.

Other notable performances for the Eagles included Cherrelle King’s personal best in the 800m Run and Jordan Fordham’s season-best effort in the 200m Dash.

The Eagles compete next weekend at the Niswonger Invitational at East Tennessee State.

 

 

Western Carolina Competes at Wake Forest Invitational
Cullowhee, N.C. – The Western Carolina men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams competed in the Wake Forest Invitational at the JDL Fast Track with 51 top 15 finishes Saturday afternoon.

On the men’s side, Jared Johnson had the best results on the day after finishing in second in the shot put with a distance of 14.30m.  He also finished in four in the weight throw with a distance of 16.48m.  Andy Benesh took 10th in the shot put after a toss of 12.19m and finished in sixth in the weight throw after  distance of 14.80m.  Bob McNeil took fifth in the triple jump after a distance of 14.19m.  In the pole vault Dustin Triplett and Keith Leonard took sixth and seventh after jumps of 4.40m and 4.30m respectively.  In the high jump, Christian Carswell’s height of 1.98m placed the sophomore in sixth and set a new personal best.  Earl Rahming finished in seventh in the 400m with a time of 49.80.  It is second top ten finish in the 400m in two meets this season.  Jeffery Hendricks and Jerry Wickerson finished in 10th and 11th with both running a time of 6.96.

WCU’s 4x400m relay team that consisted of Earl Rahming, Aaron Harris, Demari Boswell and Aaron Tribble took fourth after getting the baton around the track in 3:22.66.

For the women, Sage Proffitt had the best finish on the day with a second place podium spot in the pole vault after a height of 3.55m.  Four Catamounts finished in third place in four different events with Genevieve Emrick took third in the 400m with a time of 56.57.  Xaveria Bass finished in third with a distance of 1.67m in the height jump, and Michaela Birek finished in third in the long jump with a distance of 5.60m.  Alisha Bradshaw’s distance of 15.68m in the weight throw place her in third.

Hayley Tomlinson took fourth in the 800m with a time of 2:20.74.  It is her second top five finish in two events this season.

In the 60m hurdles Xaveria Bass qualified for the finals after running a time of 9.01 in the preliminary.  She picked it up in the finals with a time of 8.92 good enough for fifth place.

 

UNCG Competes at Wake Forest Invitational
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The UNCG men’s and women’s indoor track team opened the 2014 season Saturday, taking part in the Wake Forest Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston Salem in an event with collegiate teams, club teams and professional runners.

On the men’s side, junior Dylan Belles was the Spartans’ top finisher of the day. Belles placed fourth overall in the mile run with a time of 4:24.68, finishing just seven seconds off the top spot (4:17.03). His time was also a career-best, trimming almost nine seconds off his previous time of 4:33.49 set his freshman year at the Kent Taylor Invite. Junior Max Bergstrom placed 10^th in the event with a time of 4:36.75.

In the 3,000-meter race, freshman Patrick O’Grady was the top finisher for UNCG with a ninth place showing in a time of 9:19.46. Additionally, freshman Dakarai Shipp placed 12^th (9:31.64) while classmate David Guthrie was 13^th (9:39.05).

Rounding out the men’s team in the 800-meter race, senior Abraham Kemboi placed 28^th in a time of 2:09.06 while Eric Williams finished in a time of 2:09.48 for a 30^th place showing.

On the women’s side, sophomore Katherine Link led the way with a third place finish in the mile race. Link posted a time of 5:16.87, just off her career-best time of 5:15.20 set last year at the Southern Conference championships. Also, Kate Miller placed 16^th (6:12.70) while Meredith Hicks was 17^th (6:22.54).

The women’s team also turned in a third place showing in the distance medley relay race with a time of 12:15.06. Seniors Chelsea Sumney, Shaina Sumney and Shannon Hall combined with sophomore Lydia Saina for the top three showing in the DMR.

Finally, the Spartans had three top 30 finishes in the 800-meter final at the Wake Forest Invitational. Freshman Samiiah Wilson led the way with a time of 2:29.83 for 15^th place while Katlyn Ayers  finished 17^th (2:30.30) and Katlyn Adkins was 28^th (2:42.11).