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2/19/2009 - MEN'S INDOOR TRACK
Indoor Track & Field Championships start Friday
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MACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships kick off for the fourth year on Friday. ETSU's Memorial Center will host the 2009 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships for the fourth straight year.
The ETSU men won titles in the first two years of the championship, 2006 and 2007, and look to take back the title from the Owls. The women improved on a sixth place finish in 2006 with 37 points to a tie for second (with Belmont) in 2007 scoring 81 points, but fell back to fifth in 2008 with 52 points.
Jacksonville is one of only six schools in the country to currently hold three consecutive conference titles. Bucknell University is the only school in the nation with a longer streak dating back to 2002. Across all sports in the Atlantic Sun, only Belmont men’s basketball and women’s cross country teams have an active streak of at least three straight titles.
Senior Natasha Harvey paced the Jimmy Carnes Invitational by increasing her NCAA automatic qualifying long jump with a leap of 6.50 meters. Teammate Ronnisha Hall set the new program standard in the shot put with a toss of 14.63 meters to lead the A-Sun with other Dolphin Tiffany Bromfield joins her on the A-Sun top performer list coming in third.
On the women's side, six women return to defend their title spots in the 2009 championship. ETSU's Judy Johnson, Belmont’s Lynette Rives, and Jacksonville's Unique Singleton look to keep their title on the track. Johnson won the 60-meter dash; Rives took home the medal for the 200-meter and Singleton paced the 400. Jacksonville's Natasha Harvey was a three-event champion taking first in the 60-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump. Zachlynn Blackburn of ETSU hopes to keep the title in the weight throw.
For the men, seven champions return including three athletes from the 2008 champion, the Kennesaw State Owls. Gianni Catalano, Scott Burley, Jerome McKinzie and Joshua McNair all look to keep their titles in 2009 in the 800 meter, one mile, high jump and shot put. All three men set new championship records in 2008. Kenneth Rotich, part of the 2008 ETSU men's Cross Country Championship team, hopes to take back the team title from the Owls and stay on top in the 5000-meter run. Rotich set a new A-Sun Championship record in the 5000 in 2008. Campbell teammates Greg Dunston and Harold Sims are back for gold in the 60-meter and 400-meter run. Sims looks to break his record time of 48.89 seconds in the 400 set at the 2008 championships
ETSU senior Heidi Dahl reached the NCAA provisional mark three different times in the mile and one in the 800-meter run. At the University of Kentucky Invitational, the Orem, Utah native ran a stellar 4:47.39 mile breaking Val Urchison's Buccaneer record of 4:49.55 which stood for 11 years. Her performance at the ETSU hosted Niswonger Invitational is 12.78 seconds faster than any previous A-Sun champ.The fastest time at an A-Sun indoor championship meet is 4:56.63 set in 2006 by FAU runner Raynell Hagberg. Dahl ran the mile in 4:43.85 reaching another NCAA provisional mark.
The Kennesaw State Owls search for another title in 2009. Mid-distance runners Gianni Catalano and James Verdi are heads of the pack for Kennesaw State. Catalano racked up an Athlete of the Week award after taking first in the seeded 800 meter at the Niswonger Invitational hosted by ETSU. He crossed the line with a time of 1:52.32 to set a new Kennesaw State record. Verdi broke the school record at the same meet finishing the 400m dash with a time of 50.33. Teammates Piotr Witczak and Scott Burley join Verdi and Catalano on the strong Distance Medley Relay team that took first in Johnson City.
The Belmont Bruins men's team aims for improvement after falling from a second place finish in 2007 to a fourth place finish in 2008. The Bruins look to first-team All-Atlantic Sun cross country runners Hillary Cheruiyot and Caleb Schwartz to pace the mile and 3,000 meter run. In the field events, Belmont needs sophomore Jameson Elder and senior Tyler Howell to push past the other three top performers leading the A-Sun.
The ETSU men’s team looks to reclaim the indoor title from the Owls. The Bucs have had strong showings at their meets in 2009. ETSU kicked off the season with titles in the 55-meter hurdles, mile run, 3,000-meters, long jump and weight throw at the Appalachian State Invitational. At the Clemson Invitational, Jarrod Burton topped the A-Sun board in the weight throw with a 19.03 meter toss and teammate Kenneth Rotich ran the 5,000 meters in 14 minutes, 33.61 seconds to lead the A-Sun. During the indoor season two Bucs, Josh Cloyd and Quentin Greenlee, earned Athlete of the Week honors.
All of the action kicks off on Friday at 8:30 a.m. with the women competing in the pentathalon, followed by the men at 8:45 a.m. in the heptathalon. Championship coverage can be found at www.atlanticsun.org.
