March 21, 2009

Florida State Qualifies Nine In Last Day Of Disney Invitational
The Florida State track and field teams concluded the final day of competition at the Walt Disney World Invitational with a fantastic showing as a total of nine Seminoles earned regional qualifying times/marks and four athletes set personal records.

Leading the women was sophomore Teona Rodgers (Tampa, Fla.) with an outstanding performance in both her events. First up on the All-American’s list was the 100m hurdles where she qualified for the finals with her first-place preliminary sprint of 13.20. With her new personal-record time, Rodgers hit the track for the finals where she not only earned first place again, but also set a new personal record as well as became the record holder in FSU history for the 100m hurdles with a regional qualifying time of 13.01. However, Rodgers wasn’t done yet. The Seminole went on to compete in the 100m dash where she again qualified for finals with her time of 11.55 which also was another lifetime-best record and regional qualifying time.

Other notable women who produced regional marks were Lizbeth Mabry (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) in the pole vault with a personal record mark of 3.85m, Kamorean Hayes (Charlotte, N.C.) and Allyn Laughlin (Ambridge, Pa.) in the shot put with their first and second place finishes respectively and Candyce McGrone (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the 100m dash with a time of 11.64 which earned her second place. 

Tiger Track & Field Wraps Up Opening Weekend of Outdoor Season
Three student-athletes posted first-place finishes Saturday at the Hurricane Invitational on the opening weekend of the 2009 outdoor season. Travis Swaggard won the 400m hurdles, while Caroline Kennedy and Daniel Inge won the women's and men's pole vault, respectively.

Swaggard posted a time of 52.59 in the intermediate hurdles Saturday.

Other top men's performers in the sprints were Trenton Guy and Jacoby Ford, who placed second and third, respectively, in the 200m dash. Guy's time was 21.19, while Ford clocked a 21.34. Both were regional-qualifying times, with the help of a strong but NCAA-legal tailwind. 

Matulewicz, Ellis Secure Wins On Second Day Of Open
Two Blue Devils – Amy Matulewicz and Jade Ellis – won their events today during day two of the 2009 Wake Forest Open at Kentner Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Matulewicz won the javelin with a throw of 150-05, which is second all-time at Duke and a personal-best by more than two feet, while Ellis won the long jump in 23-07.25.

Matulewicz’s throw was an NCAA Regional qualifier as well as an ECAC standard. Ellis met the IC4A mark in his event as well.

In other field event news, Tony Shirk (15-01.00) and Sid Palas (14-07.25) went 3-4 in the pole vault. Michael Schallmo’s 160-08 throw in the discus was good for third place overall there as well as IC4A qualifier. Also in the event, Tyler Clarke set a personal best 130-08 as he took second in his flight. 

Jones Wins Shot Put at 49er Classic
Jason Jones won the shot put with a throw of 58'03.25" at the 49er Classic as NC State men's track and field finished competition at the three-day event.

Adam Gray was fifth in the discus throw with a 143'11" and was 11th in the shot put with a distance of 44'06.75".

Kwame Boatwright was seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 44'11.50" and was 10th in the high jump with a height of 6'02.75" to lead the team. 

Four Cavaliers Hit NCAA Regional Marks at Spring Swashbuckle
The Virginia track and field teams completed its season opening outdoor meet, the UVa Spring Swashbuckle, on Saturday at Lannigan Field. Led by senior Caitlin Kelly and sophomore Emil Heineking, who each won their respective events with an NCAA Regional qualifying performance, and junior Ayla Smith’s dual victories, 16 other Cavaliers were victories in their respective events, while two others met the NCAA Regional mark.

Kelly and senior Billie-Jo Grant finished first and second, respectively, in the discus, with both Cavaliers hitting NCAA qualifying marks. Kelly won the event with a throw of 163’ 08”, while Grant finished runner-up with a mark of 161’ 03”.

In the 1500m, Heineking and senior Kevin Tschirhart both turned in NCAA Regional times, with Heineking winning the event in 3:46.62 and Tschirhart crossing second in 3:47.38. 

Sprinters perform well in Miami
The Virginia Tech track and field squad’s sprinters and jumpers opened the Hokies’ outdoor track and field season with several strong performances at the Miami Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., on Saturday.

Junior Asia Washington took second in her 2009 outdoor debut in the 400-meter hurdles. Washington, who won the ACC title in the indoor 400-meter dash, clocked a 1:01.01 in the race. The Piscataway, N.J., native finished behind the winner, Tameka Jameson of Miami, by less than half-a-second.

In other women’s sprint action, junior Kristi Castlin, coming off an All-American performance in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend, finished fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.83. 

Hosts Wraps Up Successful Wake Forest Open
In the men's 110-meter hurdles, junior Brent LaRue came from behind and overtook Daniel Kinney of Howard over the last hurdle to win the event with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 14.15 at Kentner Stadium on Saturday afternoon at the Wake Forest Open.

He came into the final with the second-fastest qualifying time of 14.55.

Junior Caroline Vaughn, who set the school record yesterday in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles, finished second today with a time of 13.60. She broke away from the pack about 40 meters into the race but Landria Buckley from Howard was right on her hip. The two were neck-and-neck down the last 40 meters but Buckley was able to pull ahead at the end.