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Appalachian State Men, Women Claim SoCon Outdoor Title
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Appalachian State men and women won the 2011 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The title was the eighth for the Mountaineer men since 2001 and 18th overall, and the 16th women's title for the women, both which are the most titles in SoCon history.
On the men's side, Appalachian State scored 256 points followed by Western Carolina with 218.5 points in the final standing. The Mountaineer women tallied 195 points with Western Carolina coming in second place with 138 points.
Saturday began with the conclusion of the men's decathlon followed by the final women's heptathlon events.
Samford's Brandon Bassett, the leader of the decathlon after the end of the first day, started Saturday off strong with a win the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.31 and the top mark in the high jump with a height of 14'01.25" (4.30m). Teammate Zac Epperson and Appalachian State's Jake Goodchild also cleared the same height in the high jump. Bassett also finished first in the javelin with a throw of 189'06" (57.75). Western Carolina's Luke Burton took the top spot in the discus with a mark of 124'11" (38.07m), while Goodchild finished first in the 1,500m run with a time of 4:49.29.
Bassett's strong second day helped him to an easy decathlon win en route to setting the SoCon record with 7,040 points, shattering the previous record by 547 points. Finishing behind Bassett on the podium was Goodchild (6,560 points) and Burton (5,876 points).
In the women's heptathlon events, Georgia Southern senior Shaunta Hamilton took first in the long jump with a distance of 19'01.5" (5.83m) while junior teammate Azura Robillard won the javelin with a mark of 118'02" (36.03m). The final women's event determined the winner of the women's heptathlon as Samford freshman Ashley Cope used a strong time of 2:26.86 in the 800m to take the overall title.
Cope finished first with 4,669 points followed by the College of Charleston's Isabel Boersma with 4,543 points and Stephanie Hicks from Georgia Southern with 4,535 points.
In the women's discus, Western Carolina's Zakiyyah Stewart took first with a mark of 143'06" (43.74m), followed by Appalachian State's Gayshawna Watkins (143'0", 43.59m) and Norjai Palma (140'01", 42.71m). In the men's discus, Appalachian State took first and second with seniors Jerod Gardner and Malcolm Styers. Gardner's mark of 158'11" (48.45m) was the top distance while Styers threw for 155'06" (47.40m). Jamie Van Pelt from Western Carolina took third with a distance of 151.09" (46.26m).
In the women's triple jump, Elon's Veronica Day took first with a leap of 41'05.75" (12.64m) while teammate Lauren Hawkesworth placed second with a distance of 39'09.75" (12.13m). Appalachian State's Erika Ivey leaped 39'06.5" (12.05m) to take third. For the men, Cordell Livingston from Western Carolina took first place with a mark of 49'0.25" (14.94m). Teammate Cornelius Williams (48'05.5", 14.77m) placed second and ASU's Jamal Tiller (48'05.25", 14.76m) took third.
In the women's high jump, Appalachian State senior Rebecca Hazeltine leaped 5'08.75" (1.75m) to edged out defending champion Chenelle Terry from Samford who finished second with a height of 5'07" (1.70m). Appalachian State freshman finished third with a mark of 5'07."
In the pole vault on the women's side, freshman Cassandra Crawford from Appalachian State dethroned Laura Bedsole from Samford with a mark of 12'05.5" (3.80m). Kassie McKie (12'01.5", 3.70m) placed second and Samford freshman Cope (12'01.5", 3.70m) finished third. Bedsole placed fourth with a mark of 11'01.75 (3.40m).
The men shot put, Appalachian State took all three spots on the podium with seniors Gardner, Jacob Lane and Styers. Gardner topped his teammates with a toss of 55'05.5" (16.90m) followed by Lane with a mark 52'10.75" (16.12m) and then defending champ Styers with a distance of 51'11.25" (15.83m). In the women's shot put, Appalachian State took the top two spots with Palma taking first with a mark of 47'0.75" (14.34m) and Watkins finishing second with a throw of 45'08" (13.92m). Western Carolina's Stewart placed third with a throw of 43'10.75" (13.38m).
Saturday's track events started with women's 4 x 100m relay followed by the men's relay. On the women's side, Western Carolina claimed its fifth straight 4 x 100m title with a time of 45.92. The Catamounts relay team was composed of senior Felicia Paulding, junior Felisha Garren, sophomore Raven Parrish and freshman Janise Robinson. On the men's side, Appalachian State repeated as champions in the event with a time of 40.29. The Mountaineers were led by senior Thomas Lockard, junior Dennis Moore and sophomores Landon Powell and Justin Thomas.
Georgia Southern sophomore Ebony Carter ran a fast 11.75 in the 100m dash to take first place. Appalachian State's Breanna Alston placed second with a time of 11.87 and Western Carolina's Paulding finished third in 12.00. For the men, Appalachian State's Moore defended his title with a time of 10.39. The Mountaineer men swept the 100m dash as Powell (10.48) and Thomas (10.58) finished behind Moore.
In the 200m dash, Alston finished first for the women with a time of 24.02 while Western Carolina's Garren (24.23) and Paulding (24.39) finished second and third. On the men's side, Moore took first with a time of 20.81 while Western Carolina's Brandon Hairston placed second with a time of 21.16. Thomas posted a time of 21.30 to claim the final spot on the podium. Last season's champion Powell finished fourth with a time of 21.32.
In the women's 400m dash, Western Carolina's Felisha Garren posted a 53.99 time to take first over Amy Salek of Elon, who ran a time of 54.44. Finishing third for the women was Asia Dunlap of Appalachian State with a time of 55.74. On the men's side, The Citadel's Brunson Miller repeated as 400m champ with a time of 47.90. Western Carolina's Aaron Tribble and Benny Davis finished behind Miller with times of 48.58 and 49.20, respectively.
In the 800m run, Samford's Hillary Neal took first place for the women while Western Carolina's Drew Tucker repeated as the men's champion. Neal's time 2:10.52 edged would Appalachian State's Asia Dunlap (2:10.91) while The Citadel's Micah Wessinger finished third (2:13.51). The men's race was even closer as Tucker's time of 1:51.33 was a split faster that Appalachian State's Brandon Hudgins, who finished 1:51.34. Samford freshman Henry Stevens-Carty finished right behind in third with a time of 1:51.71.
In the tightly contested women's 1,500m run, UNCG's Ashley Schnell used a strong final 200m to beat out College of Charleston's Dena O'Brien to claim the conference title. Schnell ran a season best 4:27.06 in the event while freshman O'Brien ran a 4:29.01. Elon freshman Julie Hart took third with a time of 4:34.08.
The men's 1,500m was even tighter than the women's as a little more than one second separated first and third. Davidson freshman Grayam Sailor-Tynes won with a time of 3:59.44 while Furman freshman James Perez finished in 4:00.36. Appalachian State senior Bud Galloway finished third with a time of 4:00.65.
In the women's 5,000m run, College of Charleston's O'Brien finished well ahead of the field with a time of 17:11.52. Finishing behind O'Brien were UNCG sophomore sisters Chelsea Sumney (17:52.77) and Chelsea Sumney (17:54.44). On the men's side, Appalachian State's Will Raby took first with a time of 14:54.57. Finishing in second was Chattanooga's Emmanuel Kirwa (14:58.53) while his teammate Chris Berry (14:58.69) came in third.
In the women's 100m hurdles, Western Carolina's Nicole Okolo defended her SoCon title with a time of 13.73. Georgia Southern freshman Kwajelin Holsendolph finished second (13.90) while Samford sophomore Julie McDonald (13.97) took third.
Livingston from Western Carolina took home his second straight 110m hurdles title with a time of 14.46. Appalachian State junior AJ Dohanic took second (14.55) and Western Carolina's Jordan Blazer (14.60) finished third. The top three in the 110m hurdles stayed true for the finals of the 400m hurdles, as Livingston swept the hurdles with a time of 52.62. Dohanic ran a 53.90 while Blazer posted a 54.16.
In the women's 400m hurdles, Chenel McFadden from Appalachian State ran a time of 1:00.94 to finish first ahead of Elon freshman Veronica Luedke, who finished with a time of 1:01.96. Finishing third for the women was the Mountaineers' Shenita Martin, who clocked a time of 1:02.69.
The championships concluded with the men's and women's 4x400m. In the men's 4 x 400m Western Carolina ran a 3:11.45 to take first place. The Catamount team was composed of Aaron Tribble, Brandon Hairston, Drew Tucker and Benny Davis. Finishing second was The Citadel (3:13.93) followed by Samford (3:21.04). For the women, Elon relay team comprised of Bria Bell, Veronica Luedke, Amy Salek and Sarah Skogen ran a time of 3:43.83 to claim first. Finishing in second was Western Carolina (3:46.15) followed by Georgia Southern (3:50.60).
For complete results from the 2011 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, fans can visit the official scoring website.
Men's Team Results - Final
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1. Appalachian State |
256 points |
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2. Western Carolina |
218.5 |
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3. Samford |
138.5 |
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4. Davidson |
70 |
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5. The Citadel |
48 |
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6. Chattanooga |
42 |
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7. Furman |
24 |
|
8. Wofford |
17 |
|
9. UNCG |
1 |
Women's Team Results - Final
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1. Appalachian State |
195 |
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2. Western Carolina |
138 |
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3. Elon |
131 |
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4. Samford |
115.5 |
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5. Georgia Southern |
87.5 |
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6. College of Charleston |
65.5 |
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7. UNCG |
29 |
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8. Furman |
25 |
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9. The Citadel |
20 |
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10. Chattanooga |
7 |
|
11. Wofford |
2.5 |
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12. Davidson |
2 |
Men's Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete
Cordell Livingston - Western Carolina
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Dennis Moore - Appalachian State
Most Outstanding Field Performer
Malcolm Styers - Appalachian State
Freshman of the Year
Aaron Tribble - Western Carolina
Coach of the Year
Rod Tiffin - Samford
Women's Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete
Zakiyyah Stewart - Western Carolina
Most Outstanding Track Performer
Felisha Garren - Western Carolina
Most Outstanding Field Performers
Veronica Day - Elon
Freshman of the Year
Breanna Alston - Appalachian State
Coach of the Year
Mark Elliston - Elon
Men's All-Freshman Team - Day 2
Decathlon
Sam Lusty - Western Carolina
Shot Put
Jonathan Newton - Western Carolina
Dylan Gidado - The Citadel
Daniel Alexis - Western Carolina
Discus
Daniel Alexis - Western Carolina
Dylan Gigado - The Citadel
Jonathan Newton - Western Carolina
Triple Jump
Jamal Tiller - Appalachian State
Bob McNeil - Western Carolina
Justin Strickland - Western Carolina
110m Hurdles
Sam Lusty - Western Carolina
Chris Sievert - The Citadel
400m Hurdles
Sam Lusty - Western Carolina
Chris Sievert - The Citadel
100m Dash
Justin Emerson - Samford
Ron Duncan - Western Carolina
Stephon Shelton - Wofford
200m Dash
Aaron Tribble - Western Carolina
Ron Duncan - Western Carolina
Sidney Rhodes - Western Carolina
400m Dash
Aaron Tribble - Western Carolina
Sidney Rhodes - Western Carolina
Ammar Phillips - Western Carolina
800m Run
Henry Stevens-Carty - Samford
Andrew Lantz - Davidson
James Perez - Furman
1,500m Run
Grayam Sailor-Tynes - Davidson
James Perez - Furman
Andrew Lantz - Davidson
5,000m Run
Layton Dorsett - Samford
Chase Fisher - Western Carolina
Kenny Hinman - UNCG
Women's All-Freshman Team - Day 2
Heptathlon
Ashley Cope - Samford
Stephanie Hicks - Georgia Southern
Macy Conger - Samford
Shot Put
Charlise Morgan - Elon
Andriana Love - The Citadel
Jocelyn Parnell - Appalachian State
Pole Vault
Cassandra Crawford - Appalachian State
Ashley Cope - Samford
Claire Goodson - College of Charleston
High Jump
Shaquiela Robinson - Appalachian State
Nicole Levermann - The Citadel
Kaitlin Brown - Wofford
Discus
Shelby Builta - Samford
Rebecca Gardner - Elon
Charlise Morgan - Elon
100m Hurdles
Kwajelin Holsendolph - Georgia Southern
Stephanie Hicks - Georgia Southern
Macy Conger - Samford
400m Hurdles
Veronica Luedke - Elon
Danielle Blanco - Samford
Dana Edwards - Georgia Southern
100m Dash
Breanna Alston - Appalachian State
Janise Robinson - Western Carolina
Kwajelin Holsendolph - Georgia Southern
200m Dash
Breanna Alston - Appalachian State
Bria Bell - Elon
Kristen Campbell - Appalachian State
400m Dash
Bria Bell - Elon
Breahna Morrison - Appalachian State
Shiniqua Proyor - Western Carolina
800m Run
Jocelyn Keen - Western Carolina
Julie Hart - Elon
Danielle McKee - The Citadel
1,500m Run
Dena O'Brien - College of Charleston
Julie Hart - Elon
Catherine Burton - Furman
5,000m Run
Dena O'Brien - College of Charleston
Allyson Oram - Elon
Carly Egan - Wofford