Jan. 28, 2007

Boston College Track And Field Compete At Reebok Boston Games

BOSTON, Mass. - Track and field headed down the road to the Reggie Lewis Center to compete in the Reebok Boston games held at Northeastern University yesterday. The women would place first among 13 schools while the men would finish sixth competing against the same number.

The lady Eagles would collect five wins, including a first place finish in the women's distance medley. Freshmen Caitlin Bailey, Gretchen Andrus and Jessica Driscoll, and senior Kristen Coon would all earn wins for BC in their respective events. In addition to winning the 400 meter dash, Bailey would also finish four of 49 in the 200 meter.

Hardy Leads Lady Tigers on Day Two at Niswonger Invitational

The Lady Tiger track & field team concluded its trip to the Niswonger Invitational on Saturday. The event, which took place at East Tennessee State University, spanned Friday and Saturday of this week. Polly Hardy highlighted Clemson's efforts on day two as she was runner-up in the 60m hurdles.

Hardy clocked a time of 8.64 for her second-place showing, which was .01 shy of her season-best. In the 60m dash finals, sophomore Ra'Sheena Parker was sixth overall with a time of 7.72 seconds. In the 3000m, Laura Laughlin posted a time of 10:19.57 and came across the finish line in fourth place. Ashley Good participated in the long jump on Saturday as well, finishing 11th overall with a leap of 15'11.75".

Clemson's Koontz Posts NCAA Qualifying Mark at JRF Multi-Event Challenge

Three members of Clemson's men's track & field team completed the final three events at the JRF Multi-Event Challenge on Saturday. Brent LaRue of Wake Forest won the heptathlon in close fashion, totaling 5,480 points. He was just two points ahead of runner-up Michael Morrison (Florida) and only 19 ahead of the Tigers' Ryan Koontz.

Koontz posted 5,469 points, which was not his personal best, but it was enough to qualify him provisionally for the NCAA Indoor Championships. He started off Saturday strong by placing second in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.14. He also tied for third among the heptathletes in the pole vault. He had a 14'11.25" clearance. He finished the competition with a time of 2:53.99 in the 1000m run. Koontz is the defending ACC Champion in the heptathlon.

King Sets Record In 400 Meters, Schallmo Fires Longest Duke Shot Put In 41 Years

BOSTON, Mass. and CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke's Indoor Track and Field team finished up the weekend at the Terrier Invitational and the UNC Fast Times on Saturday. Five competitors placed themselves on the top five all-time Duke indoor records lists and four Blue Devils qualified for the postseason for the first time this year with their results.

Women's: Freshman Alexa Revord finished fifth at the UNC Fast Times in the shot put with a distance of 42'-07.00". Although she did not qualify for the ECAC's, her mark was good for the second best shot put in Duke women's history. Beth Maher set the record in 2004 with a distance of 43'-00.25".

Duke's Rowbury And Wort Hit NCAA Provisional Times, Eight Others Make Postseason

BOSTON, Mass. and CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke's Indoor Track and Field team competed in two meets on Friday: the Terrier Invitational and the UNC Fast Times. Six individual Blue Devils and one relay team qualified for the postseason during the course of the day.

Women's: Sophomore Maddie McKeever finished eighth in the women's mile at the Terrier Invitational, but more importantly qualified for the ECAC championships with her time of 4:53.90. The women's ECAC indoor championships will be held March 3-4 in Boston.

Florida State's UF Diet Pepsi Challenge Results

Florida State competed in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. for the last time during the indoor season. For the next meet, the Seminoles head to the Big Apple in New York for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on February 2nd and 3rd.

Pair of Top-Three Finishes for Georgia Tech's Kidd at Penn State Invitational

UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn. - Senior Ashlee Kidd ran NCAA provisional times in both the women's 200- and 400-meter dashes at the Penn State National Open on Saturday.

Kidd, a senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., finished third in the women's 200 with a season- and team-best time of 23.44. She placed second in the 400 with another season- and team-best time of 53.22.

Moss, Miller Lead Georgia Tech at Diet Pepsi Invitational

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Shantia Moss clocked a NCAA provisional time of 7.61 in the women's 55-meter hurdles and Jerome Miller had a NCAA provisional mark of 7 feet, 1 inch in the men's high jump to lead the Georgia Tech men's and women's track and field teams at the Diet Pepsi Invitational on Saturday.

Moss, a junior from Tamarac, Fla., ran a time of 7.60 in the preliminary round of the 55m hurdles and a time of 7.61 in the finals. Moss also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.56.

Terps 4x400 Relay Wins at Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The University of Maryland won the invitational section of the men's 4x400-meter relay to highlight Terrapin performances on Friday and Saturday at the Penn State National Invitational indoor track and field meet held at the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track.

Anthony Walker, Jeremy Samuels, Kyle Rauser and Sean Lowe posted a time of 3:11.74, just one second off the provisional-qualifying time for the NCAA Indoor Nationals. That group includes a freshman, two sophomores and a junior for the improving Terrapins. It was the best mark posted by the Terps in seven years.

Hurricanes Sees Success over Weekend

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Several members of the University of Miami men's track and field team saw success at different venues Saturday as the team competed at the UNC Fast Times in Chapel Hill, N.C. and the Diet Pepsi Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

One of the most notable performances by a Hurricane at the Diet Pepsi Invitational was set by junior Tim Harris, who won the 800 meters with an NCAA provisional time of 1:49.73. Harris' time marks the fastest time set in the 800 this season by any NCAA athlete.

North Carolina's Flanagan Shatters American Record

Former Tar Heel standout Shalane Flanagan announced her return to competitive racing with a huge bang Saturday, obliterating the American record in the women's 3,000 meters at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games. Flanagan clocked a staggering 8:33.25 to break Regina Jacobs' previous mark in the event by almost six seconds. The sensational time improved the Marblehead, Mass., native's personal best by more than 20 seconds as she returned to the track after nearly a year and a half spent battling a foot injury.

The 2005 USA outdoor 5,000 meter champion challenged Meseret Defar on the backstretch as Defar attempted to set a new world record, bringing the capacity crowd to its feet. In the end, Defar barely outlasted Flanagan - and had to use the fifth-fastest performance of all-time (8:30.31) to do so. Flanagan was a 14-time All-America at UNC and won back-to-back NCAA Cross Country Championships.

Carolina Dominates UNC Fast Times

CHAPEL HILL --- Five individual event winners highlighted the second and final day of competition for the Tar Heels at the UNC Fast Times meet held Saturday at the Eddie Smith Field House. In addition to those stellar performances and Callie Pottinger's win in the women's 400 meters Friday, the North Carolina men also claimed the title in the 4x400-meter relay, adding to Carolina's impressive performance on the weekend.

Senior All-America Clay Ragan helped propel the Tar Heel men Saturday with his win in the men's 800, an event he won by more than four seconds in 1:51.11. His time was just shy of an NCAA provisional mark in his first time running the event this season.

NC State Track Sees Positive Results at UNC Fast Times

Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State track and field teams were back in action this past weekend, competing at the UNC Fast Times meet in Chapel Hill. NC State had one automatic NCAA mark, and a NCAA provisional time as well. For the first time this season, the Pack's distance runners competed.

Just like the men's team, the NC State women's distance runners ran in some shorter distance races in their first meet of the season. Julia Lucas notched a NCAA provisional time in the mile, as she was first with a time of 4:47.69. Kristina Roth was close behind in second, running a 4:55.24. The Pack had three other top-10 finishers, as Bona Jones was fifth (5:00.69), Magin Kebert was sixth (5:03.24), and Amy Kelly was 10th (5:15.66).

Cavaliers Take Individual Titles at Patriot Games

A number of Virginia track and field athletes took home first-place finishes at the Patriot Games in Fairfax, Va. today (Jan 27), including both the women's 4x400m and the men's 4x800m squads. Amy Bilmanis had a personal-best toss of 14.68m in the weight throw to take the gold in that event, while Erin Crawford was a double champion, taking home top honors in the 60m hurdles as well as the open quarter. Jeff McClurg won the pole vault title while Tomika Ferguson took home runner-up honors in both the long jump and the triple jump.

Crawford and first-year Ayla Smith went 1-4 in both the 60m hurdles and the open quarter as the All-American Crawford edged Jasmine Major of Richmond in a photo finish in the short hurdles. Her time of 8.85 moved her into the top-five in school history. The Cavaliers took home a pair of second-place finishes in the middle distances as Jen Hovland was the runner-up in the 800m (2:18.16) while Sara Casscells was the runner-up in the 1000m (2:55.84). Casscells led a 2-3-4 finish as Susan Brooks ran .05 behind her with 2:55.89 and Huma Husain ran in fourth with a 2:57.81. Emily Harrison led a 2-3 finish in the 3K, running 9:52.26 while Stephanie Garcia ran just behind with her 10:07.47. Ferguson's runner-up finishes were complimented by Katie Tershel, who took third in the triple jump (11.65m) and fifth in the long jump (5.52m).

Hokies add three school records, three NCAA provisional marks to resumé

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech track and field team split up Friday and Saturday to compete in three different meets, and had success in each one of them. Three school records were broken at the Penn State National Open, including Kristi Castlin's 8.34 in the 60m hurdles, Asia Washington's 2:09.66 in the 800m, and an effort of 3:39.20 in the women's 4x400m relay.

Both Castlin's mark and the 4x400m relay time were good for NCAA provisional qualifying standards, as was Brittany Pryor's toss of 16.27m (53'4.5") in the shot put at Liberty's On Track Open. The Hokies have now tallied 14 school records and nine NCAA provisional marks this indoor season.

Wake Forest's LaRue Wins Heptathlon at JRF Multi-Event Challenge

After starting the day in fourth place, Wake Forest sophomore Brent LaRue came back to win the heptathlon at the JRF Multi-Event Challenge hosted by Clemson on Saturday. The Kernersville, N.C., native finished the meet with 5,480 points to narrowly edge out Florida's Michael Morrison by just two points.

LaRue ran a time of 8.18 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, the first event of the day, and followed that with a best height of 4.55 meters in the pole vault. He then ran a 2:44.62 in the 1,000-meter run to win the event as well as the competition.