Date Posted: 2/29/2008

MACON, Ga. - Only two schools have felt the thrill of winning an Atlantic Sun Indoor Track and Field Championship, ETSU's men's team and Jacksonville's women's team have each won the first two team titles. Across all sports only Belmont's men's cross country team has an active streak of at least three straight team titles.

The men’s championship features 12 winners from the 2007 Championship, including Campbell’s Sam Tilly who won the 200-meter title as well as the long jump. Tilly was the only athlete to win multiple events last season. In the women’s event, seven champions return from the 2007 event including four from the reigning champion Jacksonville Dolphins: Janel Grooms, 400-meters; Natasha Harvey, 60-meter hurdles, Shaquania Lundy, triple jump and Simone Clark, pentathlon.

Jacksonville junior jumpers Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy competed in the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships the weekend prior to the A-Sun meet. Harvey placed eighth in the long jump with a leap of 19-07”. Lundy finished 13th in the triple jump after she recorded a mark of 41-00.50” in her first jump.

In terms of the men’s Athlete of the Week awards, the performers from Gardner-Webb and ETSU dominated as athletes from the two schools won five of the seven awards. Gardner-Webb’s Elliott Haynie won the first two awards for his prowess in the pole vault, becoming the third male athlete to win back-to-back awards. His teammate, Dobson Collins won the third Athlete of the Week award for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Collins, the runner-up in 2007 in the 60-meter hurdles owns the fastest time in the A-Sun in that event.

Jarrod Burton and Kenneth Rotich each picked up weekly honors for the Buccaneers. Burton won his third-career award after top-five finishes in the weight throw and the shot put at the Carolina Classic. Rotich won his first Indoor Track award, and third across all sports, after winning both the 3,000-meer and 5,000-meter races at the Clemson Invitational.

One year after finishing second to Jacksonville’s Janita Ocana in both the 60-meter and the 200 at the Indoor Championships, Belmont’s Lynette Rives owns the top times in those events this season. In addition, she has the second-longest long-jump in the conference. She won the A-Sun’s second female Athlete of the Week of the season after setting school records in the 200m and the long jump at the MTSU Invitational.

League newcomer USC Upstate will make its debut at the Indoor Track and Field Championships. Among the Spartan male athletes to watch is Perrish Goggins. He ranks in the top A-Sun performers in the 60, the high jump and the triple jump. The USC Upstate women will look for a strong performance from Emily Tangwar. The Freshman of the Year in cross country owns top three times in the 800-meter run, the mile and the 3,000. In the 3,000 she owns the fastest time in the conference at 10:03.78, nearly 10 seconds better than the second-fastest runner.

At the 2006 Indoor Track and Field Championships, Belmont’s men finished fifth out of six teams while the women placed seventh of nine. One year later, they made giant improvements as both finished in ties for second place. The men increased their point total by 48 points while the women’s total shot up by 77 points. Not surprisingly, the men’s strength comes from the distance events. Belmont’s men have won six straight A-Sun cross country titles and have individuals ranking among the top five in the 800, the mile, the 3,000 and the Bruins’ distance medley team owns the second-fastest time in the A-Sun.

ETSU’s Memorial Center will host the 2008 Atlantc Sun Indoor Track and Field Championships, the third straight year that the arena has been the site for the meet. The ETSU men have won both titles while the women improved on a sixth place finish in 2006 with 37 points to tie for second (with Belmont) in 2007, scoring 81 points.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Related Links:
 • A-Sun Indoor Track and Field Championships
 • Live Scoring