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Western Carolina Men, Women Take Indoor Titles
Final Results (HTML)
Championship Central
Winston-Salem, N.C. – The Western Carolina men’s and women’s teams won the 2014 Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the JDL Fast Track during events held over two days in Winston-Salem.
The Catamount women’s team scored 132 points to score their second straight title win, finishing ahead of second-place Appalachian State, who scored 120.5 points. Georgia Southern placed third with 119 points and Samford was the fourth place finisher, scoring 113.5 points.
Appalachian State’s Breanna Alston earned Women’s Most Outstanding Athlete honors for the second straight year, and also was selected as the Women’s Most Valuable Track Performer.
Samford’s Ashley Cope was selected as the Women’s Most Valuable Field Performer.
On the men’s side, the Catamounts used 185 team points to bring home the SoCon championship. Appalachian State finished second with 150 points, followed by Samford (112) and The Citadel (66).
Western Carolina also took home several men’s individual awards, nabbing three of the five possible individual honors. Jared Johnson was chosen as the 2014 Most Valuable Field performer for his efforts over the weekend, and teammate Josh McSwain was named 2014 Freshman of the Year. Head coach Danny Williamson was selected as both the men’s and women’s Coach of the Year.
The Citadel’s Jamaal Brantley was voted Most Valuable Track Performer and Samford’s Brandon Bassett earned Most Outstanding Athlete of the championship, taking home the Heath Whittle award, given to the athlete who scores the most points in the meet.
UNCG’s Shaina Sumney set a new conference record in the women’s 5,000-meters on Sunday. Sumney finished in 16:39.02, breaking the record previously held by College of Charleston’s Dena O’Brien, which was 16:39.47 and set in 2012.
The men’s heptathlon kicked off the final day of the championship and Christian Carswell scored Western Carolina a first place finish, scoring 4,681 points. Appalachian State’s Jackson Powers won the 1,000-meter event to finish in second place with 4,648 points, while WCU’s Sam Lusty took third with 4,351.
Jared Johnson continued the winning for the Catamounts, getting his second win of the weekend by taking the men’s weight throw. Johnson’s third throw measured 18.18m (59-07 ¾) which was five feet farther than the nearest competitior. Fellow Catamount Alisha Bradshaw was the winner in the women’s weight throw, throwing 19.27 (63-02 ¾) to claim the title.
Marquis Bailey scored Western Carolina’s third win of the day in the 60-meter hurdles, narrowly edging out teammate Abraham Faison for the win. Elon’s Sydney Griffin picked up the women’s 60-meter hurdle victory, fending off Georgia Southern’s Alyssa Felton and Western Carolina’s Xaveria Bass.
Samford took first in the men’s and women’s mile, as Adam Jones took the men’s title with a time of 4:17.52. Lauren D’Alessio won the third mile title of her career, crossing the finish line in 4:58.51.
Brantley scored wins in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meters, finishing the 60 in 6.82 seconds and crossing the line in the 200 in 21.97 seconds. Western Carolina’s Tayla Carter won her second straight title in the 60-meters, finishing at 7.45.
Alston managed to win her fourth title in the 200, beating out Carter by 0.21 seconds to finish at 24.42.
Aaron Harris of Western Carolina took the men’s 400-meters and fellow Catamount Genevieve Emrick was the women’s 400 winner.
Samford senior Nathan Hendershot was the champion in the 800-meters and Georgia Southern’s Sherril McFarlane took the women’s 800 with a time of 2:10.54.
Furman’s Tripp Hurt was the winner in the men’s 5k, crossing the line in 14:30.76,with teammate Tanner Hinkle taking second.
Samford freshman Morgan Johnson won the women’s pole vault after a three-way jump-off, narrowly defeating Cassandra Crawford of Appalachian State and fellow Bulldog Cope.
The triple jump winners were Samford’s Nicole Charley and Jamal Tiller of Appalachian State.
The women’s 4x400-meter relay closed the day, and was won by Georgia Southern. The team of Dana Edwards, Sherril McFarlane, Cherrelle King and Asha Stegall clocked a 3:50.02 to earn the win. The men’s 4x400 team of Earl Rahming, Aaron Harris, Demari Boswell and Adrian Ortado of Western Carolina took home the men’s crown.
Men’s Team Results – Final
1. Western Carolina 185
2. Appalachian State 150
3. Samford 112
4. The Citadel 66
5. Furman 65
6. Davidson 36
7. Chattanooga 25
8. Wofford 13
9. UNCG 9
Women’s Team Results – Final
1. Western Carolina 132
2. Appalachian State 120.5
3. Georgia Southern 119
4. Samford 113.5
5. Elon 88
6. Chattanooga 22
7. UNCG 18
8. Furman 17
9. Davidson 16
10. The Citadel 10
11. Wofford 3
Men’s Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete
Brandon Bassett, Samford
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Jamaal Brantley, The Citadel
Most Outstanding Field Performer
Jared Johnson, Western Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Josh McSwain, Western Carolina
Coach of the Year
Danny Williamson, Western Carolina
Women’s Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete
Breanna Alston, Appalachian State
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Breanna Alston, Appalachian State
Most Outstanding Field Performers
Ashley Cope, Samford
Freshman of the Year
Morgan Johnson, Samford
Coach of the Year
Danny Williamson, Western Carolina
Men’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2
Heptathlon
Jackson Powers, Appalachian State
Andrew Patterson, Samford
Weight Throw
Nathan Milch, Appalachian State
Brian Smith, Samford
James Hayworth, Wofford
Triple Jump
Josh McSwain, Western Carolina
James Stovall, Chattanooga
Chris Powell, Davidson
60m Dash
William Buckley, Appalachian State
200m Dash
William Buckley, Appalachian State
400m Dash
Joshua Hanna, Appalachian State
Eric Blake, Western Carolina
Mile Run
Brock Baker, Furman
JC Cornett, Western Carolina
Nate Riech, Furman
5000m Run
Tanner Hinkle, Furman’
Chris Anderson, Appalachian State
JC Cornett, Western Carolina
Women’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2
Pole Vault
Morgan Johnson, Samford
Emily Eustace, Samford
Triple Jump
Tiffani Lews, Western Carolina
Kelsey Arnold, Georgia Southern
Aerial Horton, SamfordHailey Cook, Western Carolina
60m Dash
Tiffani Lewis, Western Carolina
400m Dash
Asha Stegall, Georgia Southern
Mile Run
Allie Buchalski, Furman
5000m Run
Grace Tinkey, Furman
Tristan Van Ord, Appalachian State
Elyse Bierut, Elon