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March 28, 2008
View the Complete List of Outdoor Track and Field Results Saturday, March 29th, 2008John Caulfield Helps Lead UCLA Men's Track & Field To Cal/Nevada Team Title The No. 7 UCLA men's track and field team captured the team title at the Cal/Nevada Championships on Saturday behind senior John Caulfield's very impressive performances in both the shot put and discus. In all, the Bruins tallied 17 season or lifetime-best marks and picked up four new regional qualifiers on Saturday. UCLA easily won the meet with 238 points. Fresno State (165), UC Davis (78.50), Cal State Northridge (66) and Cal State Los Angeles (59) rounded out the top five teams. Caulfield, who had thrown a two-foot best on Friday in the prelims of the discus, tacked on six more feet Saturday to post the No. 1 discus mark in the nation this season (197-10). In the shot put, Caulfield bettered his season-best by a foot with a toss of 62-7.75 as he won both events and achieved regional qualifying standards. Caulfield's win in the shot put highlighted a Bruin sweep in the event as sophomore Darius Savage (59-9.75) and freshman Bo Taylor (59-2) finished second and third with NCAA regional marks. Both of the men's marks were also lifetime-best performances. Senior Greg Garza finished just behind Caulfield in the discus with his second-place throw of 194-9. That mark was a season-best and regional qualifier for the two-time All-American. The Bruins had seven event wins including Caulfield's two in the shot put and discus. Senior Henry Hagenbuch ran a lifetime-best 3:50.65 in the 1500m to win the event. Junior Boldizsar Kocsor, who set a new UCLA Junior Class record on Friday in the hammer, won the event with a throw of 217-3. Senior Elijah Wells won the 400m in a time of 48.02.
Freshman Jonathan Clark had a strong showing in the triple jump as he posted a season-best and regional qualifying mark of 49-9.25 to win the event. Sophomore Steven Taylor also posted a season-best and regional qualifying performance in the triple as he had a top mark of 49-2.50 for second-place. Freshman vaulter Johnny Quinn had a big day in the pole vault as he cleared a lifetime-best 17-0.75 to win the event. Also posting regional marks on Saturday were freshman Daniel Kirkpatrick (HJ, 6-10.75, 2nd) and Dustin DeLeo (PV, 16-6.75, 2nd). Lifetime-best performances include - Marco Anzures, 1500m (3:51.48); Scott Crawford, 800m (1:50.97); Marlon Patterson, 800m (1:52.05); JP Castel, 110mH (15.06); Ryan Gordon, steeplechase (9:34.06); Johnny Quinn, PV (17-0.75). Season-best performances include - Stan Griffin, 100m (10.75) and 200m (21.38); 4x100m relay (41.33); Daniel Kirkpatrick, HJ (6-10.75); Steven Taylor, TJ (49-2.50); John Caulfield, SP (62-7.25); Greg Garza, DT (194-9). Southern Illinois Women first, men second at Gill Spring Track and Field Classic CARBONDALE, Ill. - The Southern Illinois track and field teams combined for 12 meet titles and 41 top-three finishes as the women won the meet and the men finished second at the Gill Spring Classic at Lew Hartzog track Friday and Saturday. The Saluki women picked up eight meet titles led by five-time All-American and two-time national champion Brittany Riley who won both the hammer and shot put, finishing second in the discus. The women won by over 100 points, finishing the meet with 274 total. Illinois State came in second with 173.5 points followed by Wisconsin-Milwaukee (108.5), SIU-Edwardsville (95) and Bradley (33). The men were led by SIU thrower Brenton Siemons, also picking up two meet titles in the hammer and shot put, regionally qualifying in both events. Illinois won the meet with 205 points, followed by the Salukis with 188.5. Illinois State (114.5), SIUE (90), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (89) and Evansville (3) rounded out the field. Along with Siemons and Riley, Sasha Leeth was the other Saluki to qualify for the Mideast Regional meet in the hammer. Riley and Leeth finished one, two in the event Friday. Riley went on to throw 43-10.5 in the shot for the win Saturday, also tossing the discus 144-05 for second. In the running events for the women, Nefeteri Williams won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 11:07.10. A'Seret Dokubo finished second in 11:26.45. The relay of Bianca Stuart, Kandise Thompson, Meredith Hayes and Andrea Norris teamed up to win the 4x100-meter relay in 47.71. Thompson went on to anchor the winning 4x400-meter relay with Kendra Deck, Gabbi Meniefield and Tredene Davis in 3:51.18 and also finished second in the 400 dash in 56.94. Norris and Davis both went on to win individual titles. Norris in the 100 dash with a time of 12.14 and Davis the 400 hurdles in 1:04.29. The Salukis swept the top three places in the 400 hurdles, along with Davis, Deck (1:04.38) and Connie Hicks (1:08.16) finished second and third. The 24 points the trio racked up in the event put the team race out of reach for the remainder of the day. Terri Counts picked up the final women's title in the 100 hurdles in a career-best 14.31. Hayes finished second in 14.33. Picking up a second-place finish in the javelin and a third-place finish in the 1500 was Toni Whitfield. The sophomore threw a career-best 124-05 in the javelin and ran 4:45.42 in the 1500. After finishing second and third in the long jump Friday, the duo of Mikeya Nicholson and Judeka Adams finished two, three again in the triple jump Saturday. Nicholson reached 38-00, while Adams jumped 37-07.75. In the pole vault, Miracle Thompson set a new SIU mark, clearing 11-01.75 for a second-place finish. Jacque Menke finished third at 10-08. On the men's side, along with Siemons, the Salukis picked up top finishes in the long jump and the 4x100-meter relay. Trenton McKinney won the long jump on Friday, along with Siemons victory in the hammer. Saturday, Siemons threw 56-01.75 in the shot put for the win. Thomas Smith, who picked up a third-place finish in the hammer, finished second in the javelin with a career-best 176-04. Trevor Poore finished third with a personal best heave of 167-11. Also in the throws, Jake Dieters finished third in the discus with a final mark of 160-10, Smith finished fifth at 151-03. In the pole vault, Blake Brachear finished tied for second clearing 15-01. On the track, the 4x100 team of Brandon Deloney, Sammy Biggs, Antoine Jennings and Stevie Warren won the event in 41.27. Deloney went on to finish second in the 200 (21.92) and third in the 100 (10.93). Warren finished just ahead of Deloney in the 100 with a 10.80 in the 100 and finished fourth in the 200 (22.07) just behind him. Biggs went on to finish fourth in the 400 in 48.22 and anchored the 4x400-meter relay to a third-place finish. He teamed with Willie Knox, Warren and Jennings and finished in a time of 3:18.03. Knox also picked up a third-place finish in the 400 hurdles in 55.87. In the distance events, Kyle Kirchner picked up the top finish for the men running 3:58.70 in the 1500 for second place. The Salukis return to action April 5 when they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. for the Gatorade Classic hosted by SEMO. Two UTEP Miners Set World-Best Marks at Springtime Invitational EL PASO, Tex. - Jumpers Blessing Okagbare and Mickael Hanany set 2008 all-conditions world-best marks today in their respective events, setting the tone for the outdoor track and field season at the home-hosted Springtime Invitational. Okagbare, in her first outdoor track and field meet as a Miner, jumped a UTEP record-setting mark of 6.14m (22-3) in the long jump for the world's best mark of the year. The regional qualifying mark is also a new Kidd Field record. After redshirting last outdoor season, Hanany made his comeback by posting two personal best marks. His world-best mark of 2.31m (7-7) in the high jump ties the Kidd Field record. Hanany also posted a regional-qualifying mark of 8.03m (26-4 1/4) in the long jump, putting him ahead of Bob Beamon for second in the UTEP record books. The mark is the current NCAA best. All together, the Miners posted 13 regional qualifying marks and won 13 titles at the meet. The men's team entered the event ranked 24th in the nation by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coach's Association. "I think we had some really great marks, and we had some marks that are really good. As a coach, you want to start on a positive note and we put our best foot forward today," Head Coach Bob Kitchens said. Keisha Walkes set a UTEP record in the shot put, posting a regional-qualifying mark of 16.00 (52-6). Nelly Tchayem followed Okagbare in the long jump, coming in third with a personal best and regional-qualifying mark of 6.14 (20-1 3/4). The mark is the fourth-best mark in the NCAA this season. Ismaila Halimat and newcomer Gladys Nwaubani both posted regional-qualifying marks in the women's 100-meter dash. Halimat finished first with a time of 11.21 seconds and Nwaubani crossed third in the event at 11.65 seconds. Nina Schvedoff, in her last season as a Miner, finished second in the women's hammer throw with a personal-best mark of 60.41 (198-02), good for second in the record books. On the men's side, Hans Eriksson and freshman Dimitrios Fylladitakis earned regional-qualifying marks in the hammer. Eriksson's personal-best mark of 62.97m (206-7) was a meet-best. Fylladitakis followed at 61.92m (203-2). Alex van der Merwe achieved a personal-best in the men's javelin, posting a regional-qualifying mark of 74.62 (244-10). The mark is fourth in the UTEP record books. All-American Elias Koech posted a meet-best regional time of 46:36 in the men's 400-meter dash and All-American Dominic Tanui took gold in the 800-meter run with a regional mark of 1:49.56. Nicodemus Ng'etich and All-American Patrick Mutai finished one-two in the men's 1,500-meter run, with times of 3:54.14 and 3:54.55, respectively. Kelly Young took gold in the women's 800-meter run (2:12.03), while newcomer Happy Merry Bacia finished silver (2:14.59). Laura Clarke finished first in the women's 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:33.68. She was followed in the event by Brissia Montalvo in seventh (11:04.41), Megan Chojnacki in eighth (11:10.15) and Crystal Garcia in 11th (11:21.82). Japheth Ng'ojoy took gold in the men's 3,000-meter race with a time 8:31.81. Quashanda Welch set a personal-best time of 13.86 in the women's 100-meter hurdles, taking gold in the event, just missing the regional mark. Terry Contreras jumped the second-best mark of the meet in the triple jump (personal best 11.95m; 39-2 1/2) and finished sixth in the high jump (1.6m;5-3). "I think what this sets us up as a team where we can see the light at the end of the tunnel," Kitchens said. "We just need to widen the tunnel a little bit, and in a few more weeks we will be a lot better than than we are today." For complete results, please visit http://www.spato.us/results/c2008/utepspringtime/. Arizona State Track & Field Earns 17 Regional Qualifiers at ASU Invitational TEMPE, Ariz. - Jacquelyn Johnson had a monster day and the Arizona State University track and field team won seven events Saturday as the program closed out its second meet of the year, the ASU Invitational, on Joe Selleh Track at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe. Johnson, a six-time national champion, ran the third-fastest time in school history (13.19) in the 100m hurdles before breaking the school record in the javelin (46.22m) to lead the way. Johnson was joined by Ryan Whiting, who moved up to No. 2 on the all-time ASU discus list with his toss of 61.11m. Staying in the field events, the women's discus produced two more regional qualifiers as Jessica Pressley (54.24m) and Tai Battle (53.97m), the national runner-up in the event last year, qualified for the regional meet and placed second and third, respectively. Johnson was joined by Lissa Regets (44.19m) as a regional qualifier in the javelin while Tomas Navarro hit 17.57m in the shot put to qualify. The final field event high mark came in the men's high jump as Matt Turner won the event with a clearance of 2.20m. On the track, the women's 4x100m relay of Dominique' Maloy, Charonda Williams, Stephanie Garnett and Shauntel Elcock combined to win in 45.18 while the men's 4x400m relay of Darryl Elston, Jimmie Gordon, Marquis Proifit and Joel Phillip won in 3:08.56. Maloy and Williams each won individual events as Maloy ran 53.98 in the 400m dash while Williams turned in a time of 23.94 to take the 200m dash. Both times are regional qualifiers. The final winner for the Sun Devils was Jimmie Gordon with a time of 47.24 in the 400m dash, just 0.04 from qualifying. The 400m hurdles produced three qualifiers for the men as Phillip (51.78), Profit (51.93) and Elston (52.27) finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the race. The final regional berths were earned in the 1,500m run with Kari Hardt running 4:25.11 in the women's race to place third while the men's race saw Nectaly Barbosa (3:45.49) edge out Kyle Alcorn (3:45.62) for second place. ASU will head to a pair of meets next weekend with many of the student-athletes traveling to Tucson for the Jim Click Invitational and Jim Click Multis while several Sun Devils will compete at the Stanford Invitational. San Diego State Wins Second Straight Team Title at Cal-Nevada Championships FRESNO, Calif. - The San Diego State track and field team won its second consecutive Cal-Nevada Championships team title, fifth since 2001 and fifth in the last six seasons in which it competed at the event. As a result, head coach Rahn Sheffield was awarded his fifth Cal-Nevada Coach of the Meet award. SDSU finished with 175 points, ahead of preseason No. 6 and second place UCLA, which finished with 124 points. Decontee Kaye, who was named the Track Athlete of the Meet, was a big winner on the final day of the yearly event as she ran leg on the winning 4x100-meter relay and won the 200-meter dash, the long jump and the triple jump. Her 4x100 team of Alicia King, Shana Solomon and Jessika Hornsby was the first to cross the finish line, logging a time of 46.36 to post their second straight victory in the event. In the 200, the junior was victorious with a lifetime-best clocking of 24.09 and won the long jump and triple jump with NCAA regional-qualifying and season-best marks of 19-8.75 and 42-2.00, respectively. Kaye also finished in third place in the 100 with a time of 11.97. Overall in the 100, Solomon finished in second place with a season-best matching time of 11.86, ahead of Kaye, Alicia Lowery (4th, 12.07), Hornsby (5th, 12.09) and King (7th, 12.14). In the 200 following Kaye, was Solomon in second with a season-best effort of 24.13, Hornsby (3rd, season-best 24.33), King (6th, 24.42) and Lowery (7th, season-best 24.60). All five Aztecs in both races earned points toward SDSU's winning total. San Diego State's pole vault group once again showcased their talent as Stephanie Bagan won her second event of the young season, this time clearing 13-7.75, which is currently the top vault in the nation. She also set a new personal record and notched her third straight NCAA regional mark of the outdoor campaign. At the conclusion of the meet, Bagan was named the Field Athlete of the Meet. Teammate Monica Pacas also recorded another regional mark, her third straight of the season, after she vaulted 12-7.50 to finish in sixth place. In the 400, Fresno native Kyanna Thomas finished in third place with a season-best performance of 55.70, while Mandy Upuu logged a runner-up effort in the 800 with a clocking of 2:12.75. Kristin Olafsdottir also enjoyed a solid day as she won the 400-meter hurdles after she completed the competition in a season-best and NCAA regional-qualifying time of 1:00.37. Corri Campbell-Fell, meanwhile, came in third place with a mark of 1:01.31, which was also a season-best. In the 4x400 relay, Olafsdottir anchored the group to a fourth-place finish while establishing the team's fastest time of the year. The quartet of Thomas, Upuu, King and Olafsdottir crossed the finish line in 3:45.44. In addition to Kaye winning both the long and triple jumps, Shana Watson posted a runner-up effort in the long jump with a season-best leap of 19-7.00 and came in third in the triple jump with a personal-record and NCAA regional-qualifying jump of 41-7.25. The Aztecs return to action next week as they will split their squad and send one to the Stanford Invitational and the other to the Pomona-Pitzer Invite. Cal-Nevada Championships -SDSU- LSU RELAY TEAMS SHINE ON FINAL DAY OF LSU TIGER RELAYS BATON ROUGE - The LSU track teams put an exclamation point at the end of this year's LSU Tiger Relays as both the men's and women's 1,600-meter relay teams wrapped up the meet with NCAA leading times during Saturday's action at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. The Lady Tigers were the first to step onto the track and crossed the finish line with a blistering early season time of 3 minutes, 30.83 seconds in the event. The foursome of Brooklynn Morris, Nickiesha Wilson, LaTavia Thomas and Deonna Lawrence has already established itself as the team to beat for this year's NCAA outdoor crown after winning the 1,600-meter relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships two weeks ago. In fact, the Lady Tigers are also the defending outdoor champions in the event as Wilson, Thomas and Lawrence return from the squad that won its third NCAA outdoor title in the last four seasons after lighting up the track with a time of 3:28.07 in the national final a year ago. After the Lady Tigers set the bar in their final event of the meet, the Tigers followed with a national leading time of their own as the foursome of Reuben Twijukye, Elkana Kosgei, Armanti Hayes and Reggie Dardar carried the stick around the track in 3:06.11. This marks the first time this season that the Tigers have qualified their 1,600-meter relay team into the regional meet after opening with a 3:10.88 in Arizona last weekend. "That was a great way for us to end the meet," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "I had a pretty good idea that our teams would run well after a great week of preparation. This was also a more competitive kind of race than what they saw in Arizona last week. We're certainly ahead of where we were at this time last year with both relays, and those times are further proof of that. "I really like this track meet because it gives us a chance each year to run all of our relays before we line up against some great competition at Texas. I thought we ran them well these last two days except for the men false starting today in the 4x100. We've got to learn to stay in the block." Saturday marked the much anticipated debut of the men's 400-meter relay, which is among the national favorites this season after finishing as the NCAA runner-up a year ago. After the runner's were set, sophomore Armanti Hayes came out of the blocks a split-second early to disqualify the Tigers' "A" team also featuring Richard Thompson, Gabriel Mvumvure (voom-VOO-ray) and Trindon Holliday on the anchor. Hayes bounced back from his false start in a big way by scorching the track with a team best 45.33-second split on the 1,600-meter relay. Despite the misfortune of their "A" team, the Tigers did qualify their sprint relay into the regional meet on Saturday as the "B" team of junior Jeremy Hicks, freshman Zedric Thomas, senior Ryan Fontenot and sophomore Will Coppage raced around the track in 40.53 seconds. The Lady Tigers recorded a pair of strong NCAA regional qualifying times of their own in the sprint relay as the quartet of senior Jessica Ohanaja, sophomore Samantha Henry, senior Juanita Broaddus and senior Kelly Baptiste won the event title with a time of 43.62. Freshman Kenyanna Wilson, junior Monique Cabral, Morris and sophomore Kristina Davis were not far behind their teammates after crossing the finish line in second place with a time of 43.97. "I thought that was an outstanding job by both of our women's sprint relays today," Shaver said. "They both ran really well in a competitive race, and I think that speaks well of our depth that we put together two teams that ran under 44 seconds. That's an event that will play an important role for us if we hope to contend for a national championship this year." In addition to their success in the relays, the Tigers added a pair of individual regional qualifiers during Saturday's action as Thomas won the triple jump title with a season opening mark of 49 feet, 10 inches, and junior Patrick Lee won the 400-meter hurdles with a qualifying time of 51.89. Three other LSU athletes improved their regional qualifying marks on the afternoon, including Wilson (13.19) and Ohanaja (13.32) who cut through a stiff 1.1 meter-per-second headwind to sweep the top two spots in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Junior Chad Radgowski won the javelin with a throw of 224-3, which is an 11-foot improvement from his season opening mark at the Willie Williams Classic in Tucson, Ariz., a week ago. "Nickiesha ran really well and handled the conditions better than the other girls," Shaver said. "She knew there was going to be a headwind and made the necessary adjustments. Jessica didn't adapt to the wind as well as Nickiesha did but still ran an effective race. It was also nice to see Chad get back on track after a bit of a rough start to his season last weekend." The Tigers and Lady Tigers are heating up as they combined for 13 new regional qualifiers and 10 improved regional qualifiers at the LSU Tiger Relays. They have now qualified a total of 29 athletes and four relay teams into the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships later this spring. The squads are back in action next weekend as they make their annual trip to Austin, Texas, to compete against many of the nation's elite squads in the prestigious 81st Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium. They will then return to Baton Rouge for back-to-back meets as they play host to the Tiger Invitational on April 12 and the LSU Alumni Gold on April 19. LSU's Qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (as of March 29, 2008) Men Women Missouri's Shernelle Nicholls Breaks Own Discus School Record at Missouri Relays COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the second consecutive day, high school and college track and field athletes competed against each other in cold, blustery weather in the finale of the Missouri Relays, concluding the two-day event that featured over 1,600 athletes from across the Midwest. Highlights for the home team included Missouri senior Shernelle Nicholls who posted a record-breaking performance, shattering her old school record in the women's discus event. Meanwhile, several other Tigers qualified for NCAA Regional competition, which will be held from May 30-31. Later in the day, Nicholls competed in the elite women's discus competition, and finished first after she threw for a new school record in the event. Her throw of 170-7 (52.00m) easily qualified her for the NCAA Regionals, and beat her old personal best, the previous school record and Barbados national record, of 167-9 (51.15m). Coming into this weekend, Nicholls' throw registers as the fourth highest nationally on the season. Lee also claimed a new personal best in the discus, using a toss of 144-9 (44.11m) to take first-place honors in the university portion of the event. The throw was more than six feet better than the second-place finisher, and nearly eight feet better than her previous career best of 136-10 (41.73m), which she recorded at the Tom Botts Invitational in 2007. Junior Chris Rohr and sophomore Andy Oaker were able to grab the second and third place positions in the men's portion of the elite shot put competition. Rohr's throw of 54-10¾ (16.73m) fell just seven centimeters short of the 16.80m throw needed to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. Oaker's third-place throw traveled 54-1¾ feet (16.50m). Former Tiger runner Neville Miller, now running for the New York Athletic Club, took first-place in the 1500-meter run, finishing with a time of 3:51.68. Four other Tigers rounded out the top ten, as junior Garett Jeffries took second, freshman Kyle Rood claimed fifth, and juniors Brian Graybill and Tim Cornell finished in seventh and ninth, respectively. Jeffries finished just over a second off Miller's pace with a time of 3:52.90, while Rood had a time of 3:54.92. Graybill finished at 3:55.70, and Cornell's time of 3:56.28 just slightly beat out the tenth-place finisher. In the women's portion of the event, junior Ellen Ries finished with a time of 4:37.29, which was good for second-place. Another former Tiger, Serena Burla (Ramsey) won the women's 5000-meter run on Friday night with a meet-record and stadium-record clocking of 15:47.03. Burla won by more that 55 seconds on the way to a U.S. Olympic Trials "B"-qualifying standard. Mizzou freshman Kinsey Farren finished fourth in the same race with a 17:35.18 time. In the university section of the women's 800-meter run, Tiger sophomore Jesi Battistini took first-place honors with a time of 2:26.25, nearly a full second better than the second-place finisher. In the men's portion of the event, two freshmen Tigers finished in the top eight of a closely contested race, as Robert Bollinger finished in third and Matt Harris came in eighth. Bollinger finished with a time of 1:59.38, while Harris was the last runner to finish under two minutes at 1:59.96. Brian Hancock, sophomore, came in second-place in the men's pole vault elite event, clearing 16-¾ (4.90m), but fell victim to judge's decision. Hancock finished behind Kansas' Kirk Cooper, who completed the same height, but did so in less tries. Competing in just his first race since returning from an injury-plagued junior season, senior Tipper O'Brien came in third-place in the men's elite 800-meter run, finishing with a time of 1:53.69. Jason Miller, senior high jumper for the Tigers, finished in first-place in the Open portion of the event with a jump of 6-8¾, clearing on his first attempt to take first. Sophomore Nick Adcock followed up his Day One second-place finishes in the long jump and the javelin throw with another second-place finish, this time in the men's 110-meter hurdles event. His wind-aided time of 14.54 just edged out the third-place runner. Two Tigers finished in the top-three of the men's elite 400-meter dash competition. Sophomore Jerron Forte came in second with a final time of 48.33, just edging out fellow Tiger freshman Ryan Blackwell, who finished with a time of 48.39 for third place. After qualifying for the finals of the women's 100-meter dash with a time of 12.46 in the preliminaries earlier in the day, sophomore Keyonna Smith placed in third in the finals of the event, finishing with an improved time of 12.32. Freshman James Haynes came in second-place in the finals of the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.97, edging out the third-place finisher by just five-hundredths of a second. Fellow freshman Layne Moore, running in the women's elite 800-meter run, won the event with a time of 2:13.34, beating out the second-place runner by nearly two seconds. Mizzou will travel next weekend to Charlottesville, Va., for the inaugural Jefferson Cup, a dual-meet scored versus the University of Virginia. Six First-Place Finishes at Bobby Lane Results - OU - Friday, March 28th, 2008Florida State Seminoles Post Three Regional Marks; Break Meet Record at FSU Relays TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Even though the outdoor season is young, the Florida State track and field teams are already putting themselves in a position for a strong contingency at the NCAA East Regional meet in May. Two more Seminoles qualified for regionals and a meet record fell on day two (March 28) of the FSU Relays at Mike Long Track. "I'm pretty pleased with the effort today, considering that most of our athletes were not fresh," FSU head coach Bob Braman said. "We had several athletes step up and get some regional marks and I expect several more tomorrow. "Something we haven't had in the past was some world class athletes competing, particularly in the shot put and the mile. That gave the meet a new twist and was really interesting for the fans to see." One of the oldest records in the books went down during the afternoon in the 4x200m relay. The Florida State quartet of Drew Brunson (Snellville, Ga.), Brandon Byram (Gallatin, Tenn.), Michael Ray Garvin (Upper Saddle Rivers, N.J.) and Charles Clark (Virginia Beach, Va.) posted a winning time of 1:22.09. The women's 4x200 team clocked in at 1:37.16 to take third. In the first collegiate event of the day, junior Tim Reen (Jupiter, Fla.) posted a career-best jump of 2.10 (6-10.75) to take second and qualify for the NCAA Regional meet in the high jump. It is also the top jump in the conference during the outdoor season. Notching the best jump in the ACC this season was freshman phenom Kim Williams (Kingston, Jamaica) in the long jump. The rookie posted an NCAA regional qualifying mark and personal-best leap of 6.22m (20-05.00) that is the eighth-longest in school history. Senior sprinter Dana Massiah (Arima, Trinidad & Tobago) just missed her personal best in the 400m, clocking a second-place time of 53.85 that qualified her for NCAA Regionals. Also breaking into the top eight was Hshkeni Richmond (Sufferin, N.Y.) at 55.02 and Kandia Batchelor (Tampa, Fla.) with a 55.06. Making his FSU outdoor debut was freshman Kevin Williams (Miami, Fla.). He had the Seminoles' best time in the 400m, finishing fourth-place with time of 47.50, which is just 0.30 off the regional mark and the second-best in the league so far this year. Florida State put a pair of runners in the top four of the women's 10,000m. Coming across the line in third place was Tina Biedenharn (Orange Park, Fla.) with a time of 38:38.60 while Ashley Andress (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) was a spot back at 38:57.51. Both times are lifetime bests. A personal-best throw of 57.55m (188-10) got Sean Comrecole (Naples, Fla.) a fifth-place finish in the javelin. A pair of former Seminole had big throws in the shot put. World Champion finalist Dorian Scott uncorked a throw of 21.45m (70-04.50) that is the farthest outdoor throw in the world this season. Checking in with a personal-best heave of 20.94 (68-08.50) was Garrett Johnson with the third-best throw on Earth. Florida State volunteer assistant Kevin Sullivan broke the track record in the 1500m during the Invitational run. His time of 3:41.63 is just off the Olympic "B" standard of 3:39.0. The three-day competition concludes on Saturday with field events starting at 10 a.m. and track races beginning at 11:00 a.m. Washington Track Braves Rain and Wind at Outdoor Preview SEATTLE - The Washington track and field team picked an unfortunate day to make their outdoor season debut, but persevered through the soggy, cold conditions to complete the UW Outdoor Invitational, one of just two meets at Husky Stadium this year. Given the strong winds and steady mix of rain and snow, fast times were hard to come by in the meet which featured a collection of local small colleges and club teams. Still, many Huskies got off to solid starts under the stadium lights. Washington's men are ranked ninth to open the outdoor season after placing 10th at the NCAA Indoor Championships two weeks ago. Several of the top Husky distance runners competed in the 1500-meters, with sophomore Kelly Spady just beating out junior Jake Schmitt for the win in a time of 3:55.84. Freshman Charlie Williams and redshirt freshman Riley Booker were third and fourth, respectively. Elsewhere, Jordan Swarthout placed second in the 3K, running 8:44.68. Freshman Miles Timpe was impressive in his Husky Stadium debut, winning the 400m hurdles in 55.21, while Corey Fredericks came out on top in both the long and triple jumps. Sophomore Cameron Elisara had the day's best shot put at 49-0 ¼. The Husky women welcomed back senior Amy Lia to active duty, as she competed in the 800-meters, placing fifth in 2:22.66 in what was clearly a tune-up for the 2006 NCAA 1500-meter champion. Lia missed the majority of the 2007 season with injury and also was unable to run during cross country season. Lia ran second for much of the race but held back when Oregon State's Sylvia Veal made a kick to pull away and win. Sophomore Mo Huber ran a strong 1500-meters, placing second to OSU's Noelle Harer in 4:41.04, and freshman Kenna Patrick was third out of 29 runner in the 3000-meters, running 10:13.28. Junior multi-event specialist Liz Fuller won the 100m hurdles in a strong head wind, and Allison Lombardo cleared 5-2 ¼ to win the high jump. The pole vault was moved indoors due to the wet conditions, and thus was made into an exhibition. Still, senior Kelley DiVesta showed the form that made her an All-American two weeks ago at NCAA's, clearing 13-5 ¼ to win the event. DiVesta's clearance would have easily surpassed the NCAA Regional mark had it been achieved outdoors. The Huskies will head south next week in search of better weather with some heading farther south than others. The Pepsi Team Invitational in Eugene, Ore. and the Stanford Invite are both scheduled for Saturday, April 5, and UW will likely be represented at both meets. Five Sun Devil Hammer Throwers Record Solid Marks at ASU Invite TEMPE, Ariz. - The first day of the Arizona State University Invitational came to a close Friday night with five members of the ASU track and field team earning placement on the program's all-time Top 10 list while four of those Sun Devils earned a place in the regional meet later this season. One of the competitors, Jessica Pressley, won the women's event while also tossing a mark that landed her on the all-time Top 10 list in the Pac-10 Conference. In the men's competition, Tomas Navarro led the Sun Devils for the second week in a row as he improved his personal best to 61.01m (200-02) to become the fifth Sun Devil all-time to break 200-feet in the event as he placed fourth overall, the same position he holds on the ASU historical lists. Two other men placed their names on the all-time list as well as Jason Lewis hit a mark of 60.34m (197-11) to move into fifth on the Top 10 list and become the sixth Sun Devil to throw past 60-meters. Both Navarro and Lewis qualified for the regional meet. Jeff Helwig, who placed 10th in the event with a toss of 56.25m (184-06), put his name on the Top 10 list as well as he moved into 10th on the list. The final Sun Devil to compete was Andy Haas, who placed 16th with a toss of 53.30m (174-10). The Sun Devils will continue to host the ASU Invitational on Saturday with the field events starting at 10 a.m. with the women's discus while the running events, leading off with the women's 100m hurdles, start ta 5:30 p.m. Henderson Posts Nation-Leading Discus Throw Results Liberty senior Clendon Henderson got the Liberty Collegiate Invitational started in fine fashion, Friday afternoon at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex. His first attempt in the discus sailed out to 193-4, which ranks as the nation's best throw by a collegiate performer this season. Henderson (Meadow, Texas) outdistanced former Penn State thrower Steve Meyers by nearly 15 feet to win the invitational section of the men's discus. The Flames senior also shattered his own facility record of 181-11 in the process. Classmate Jon Hart (Wyomissing, Pa.) took third place, with his top effort of 155-1. Outside of the discus, the decathlon and heptathlon were the only events contested on Friday. Just one Liberty athlete, Matt Tarr (Jr., Madison Township, Pa.), completed the first day's disciplines. He ranks third in the decathlon with 3,038 points. Steve Price of Baldwin-Wallace notched 3,525 points on Friday and will take a 286-point advantage into Saturday's final five decathlon events. In the heptathlon, North Carolina's Alexandria Coppadge also holds a sizeable lead, 279 points. She recorded 3,083 points through four events, putting the Tar Heel well in front of last year's heptathlon titlist, Meredith Withers of Roanoke. Day two of the Liberty Collegiate Invitational will begin Saturday at 10 a.m., with the women's pole vault. The gun for the first running event, the men's 4 x 100 relay, will go off at 12:30 p.m. Coastal Carolina Men's Track and Field 110-Meter Hurdle Record Falls at Asics/Winthrop Invitational ROCK HILL, S.C. -- The Coastal Carolina University men's track and field team wrapped up its first day of competition at the Asics/Winthrop Invitational at Irwin Belk Track & Field Facility Friday, March 28. The Chanticleers saw one school record fall, had four top-10 finishes and eight athletes qualify for their event finals on Saturday. Sophomore Ben Wheeler (Spartanburg, S.C./Spartanburg) reclaimed Coastal's record in the 110-meter hurdles by clocking 14.49 in the prelims, breaking the previous record of 14.50 set by classmate Jack Hutchison (Chester, Md./Kent Island) two weeks ago at the CCU Invitational. Wheeler also placed third in the prelims in order to earn a spot in the Saturday's 110-meter hurdle finals. Also earning spots in Saturday's finals were Hutchison and sophomore Kasheem Clifton (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern). Hutchison placed fifth with a time of 14.56, while Clifton ran a personal best time of 14.95 and placed eighth. In the 100-meter dash prelims, junior Jarvarius Phelps (Greenwood, S.C.,/Greenwood), sophomore Jerome St. Bernard (Markham, Ontario, Canada/McGivney (Monmouth) and freshman Ryan Edlich (Virginia Beach, Va./Bishop Coastal had four runners from the 200-meter prelims advance to the finals. In the 400-meter prelims, Phelps ran a personal record time of 48.14 en route to placing fourth and qualifying for the finals. In the field events, senior Jake Edelman (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) set personal records in both the shot put and the hammer throw. Edelman was fifth in the shot put with a mark of 50'11.5" (15.53m), which was a 2.75" (.07m) improvement from his previous best of 50'8.75" (15.46m). He added another career best mark in the hammer throw with a third-place throw of 198'10" (57.87m), which was 11'1" (0.63m) better than her previous personal best of 187'9" (57.24m) set at last weekend's Shamrock Invitational. Meanwhile, redshirt senior Galen Jones (Evans, Ga./Lakeside) had a second-place finish in the hammer throw with a 197'5" (60.17m) mark. Edlich finished 10th in the long jump with a mark of 21'4.25" (6.51m). Coastal concludes competition at the Asics/Winthrop Invitational Saturday, March 29. Track events start at 9 a.m., while field events begin at 9:30 a.m. LSU THROWERS HIGHLIGHT DAY 1 AT LSU TIGER RELAYS BATON ROUGE - Junior Rabun Fox led the Tigers' effort on the first day of competition at the 2008 LSU Tiger Relays by unleashing a 12-foot personal best of 210 feet, 11 inches to win the hammer throw title Friday afternoon at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. Fox has gotten off to a fast start in the outdoor season after equaling his previous personal record with a regional qualifying mark of 198-11 in LSU's season opener last weekend. The junior from Houma, La., is showing no ill effects from a torn meniscus in his right knee that forced him to sit out the entire 2007 season. His effort ranks him No. 2 in the NCAA on the young season and moves him into the No. 3 spot on LSU's all-time performance list in the event. Fox was not the only LSU hammer thrower to shine early in the competition as sophomore Chris Bless set a new personal best by nearly 18 feet with a throw of 181-0 and freshman Ross Roubion improved his PR by exactly 23 feet with a mark of 164-0. Bless's effort also cracked the school's all-time Top 10 list as he moved himself into the No. 9 position. "That was a great performance by Rabun this afternoon," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "He's a guy who we want to see do really well this season because he's come back strong from a pretty significant injury last season. He's gotten off to a great start these last two weeks, and we hope he continues to improve to where he can help us in the postseason. "I think next week at the Texas Relays will be a big test for him to really see where he's at. He's probably going to need that kind of a throw just to make it to the final." The LSU throwers continued to outdistance the field as the day's events drew to a close. Junior putters Ricky Jean-Francois and Adam Wilcox posted their first NCAA regional qualifying marks of the season, while junior Anna Lyons improved her regional qualifying mark in the javelin. Jean-Francois stepped into the shot put circle for the first time since wrapping up the indoor season at the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier on March 7 and uncorked a throw of 59-1 ¼ to win the event title. Wilcox posted a new personal best in the event with a fourth-place effort of 56-0 to qualify him for the regional meet for the first time in his career. Lyons followed by winning the women's javelin with a new PR of 158-8 on her first throw of the competition, which ranks her No. 5 on the school's all-time performance list in the event. "I thought the throws group as a whole had a really great day," Shaver said. "Rabun threw really well, and Ricky's performance was outstanding considering he's been trying to balance this with football the last few weeks. He's a guy that just knows how to compete." In addition to the performance by the LSU throwers, seven other Lady Tigers punched their ticket to the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships for the first time this season. The Lady Tiger hurdlers led the way as junior Nickiesha Wilson clocked a wind-legal time of 13.26 seconds and senior Jessica Ohanaja crossed the finish line with a windy 13.33 in their outdoor debuts in the 100-meter hurdles. In addition, senior Angel Boyd and freshman Tenaya Jones improved their regional marks with wind-aided times of 13.04 and 13.70, respectively. The foursome qualified for the final with the four fastest times during Friday's preliminary action and will battle one another for the event title on Saturday afternoon. "I thought our hurdlers also did a great job today, especially Angel Boyd with it being this early in the season," Shaver said. "The question now is whether or not they can run faster tomorrow than they did today when they're in a more competitive race. That will be true test of what kind of competitive spirit they have when they line up against one another." Like their teammates in the 100-meter hurdles, four Lady Tigers qualified for Saturday's final in the 100-meter dash with junior Monique Cabral (11.54w), sophomore Kristina Davis (11.67w) and Boyd (11.71) clocking their first NCAA regional qualifying times of the young season. Frosh Kenyanna Wilson was the fastest Lady Tiger of the day with an improved time of 11.50. Sophomore Katelyn Rodrigue and senior Kathy Coleman saw their first action of the outdoor season following appearances in the NCAA Indoor Championships and added their names to the Lady Tiger's regional roster in the pole vault and long jump, respectively. Rodrigue won the women's pole vault competition as she opened up with a clearance of 13-1 ½, while Coleman finished third in the long jump with a regional qualifying mark of 19-10 ¼. In all, the Tigers and Lady Tigers combined for nine new NCAA regional qualifiers, five improved regional qualifiers and five athletes who enjoyed personal best performances on Friday. "It was good to see everybody on the track for the first time," Shaver said. "Many of our athletes opened up for the first time today, and I was pleased with how they took care of business in their first competition of the outdoor season. We prepared ourselves well in the week leading up to the meet, and I think that showed today. We need to continue that tomorrow." And true to the theme of the weekend, LSU dominated the relays on the first day of the meet as the teams combined to win three of four relay titles. The men swept titles in the 4x800 and sprint medley relays, while the women ran away with the sprint medley relay themselves. The Lady Tiger foursome of sophomore Samantha Henry (200 meters), senior Kelly Baptiste (200 meters), senior Deonna Lawrence (400 meters) and freshman Brittany Hall (800 meters) was the winner in the sprint medley relay with the 10th-fastest time in school history at 3:47.55. The LSU Tiger Relays continues Saturday with the field events at 11 a.m. CDT followed by the first events on the track at 1:43 p.m. The Tigers and Lady Tigers will follow with their annual trip to Austin, Texas, to compete in the 81st Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium from April 3-5. LSU's Qualifiers for the 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (as of March 28, 2008) Men Women Sacramento State Nike Elite Meet SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State freshman Moira Robinson is in fourth place in the heptathlon and senior Robert Brazier is fifth in the decathlon following the first day of competition at the 2008 NIKE Elite Meet. Oregon's Brianne Theisen leads the heptathlon after four events with 3,252 points. The decathlon is tied at the midway point as both Darius Draudvila and Oregon's Ashton Eaton have 4,215 points. The meet began in unseasonably cool weather on Thursday morning. Dani McNaney claimed the heptathlon lead after the first event, running the 100-hurdles in 14.01 seconds. Robinson finished second in the field in 14.17. Theisen then took the lead for remainder of the day in the high jump, clearing 5-07.00 and scoring 855 points. Her jump was 2.5 inches higher than the rest of the field. Bridget Johnson of Team XO had the top mark in the long jump at 39-05.00 and Theisen recorded the longest jump by a collegiate competitor at 36-09.75. The final event of the day was the 200 and Theisen, again, led the field in a time of 25.22. Robinson, who is competing in her first collegiate heptathlon, compiled 3,083 points and is just nine points behind Oregon's Kalindra McFadden for third place. Draudvila and Eaton battled throughout the first day before finishing tied. Draudvila struck first in the 100, running 10.73 compared to Eaton's 10.82, and taking a 21 point lead. Eaton responded in the long jump with 970 points on a jump of 25-00.75. Draudvila was second at 23-11.00 for 883 points. In the shot put, NIKE's Tom Pappas beat the field by over five feet with a put of 52-10.25. Draudvila was second (47-02.25) and Eaton was fourth (40-00.75). Draudvila added to his lead in the high jump after clearing 6-07.25 compared to Eaton's 6-05.00. The final event was the 400 where Eaton ran 47.00 and finished 2.54 seconds of Draudvila to even the scoring. Pappas was also in the hunt for the top spot with the pair before fouling in the long jump and dropping out of the 1,500. The former World Champion and Olympic participant, scored 2,528 points in his three events. Brazier accumulated 3,311 points and is six points shy of fourth place. The multi events will conclude on Friday at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex. HEPTATHLON OVERALL STANDINGS DECATHLON OVERALL STANDINGS |
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