Date Posted: 2/29/2008

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -After one day of the 2008 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track and Field Championships, the meet resembles a River City dual meet as Jacksonville owns a 16-point lead on its nearest competitor, cross-town rival UNF.

It seems fitting that on Leap Day, the Dolphins scored big points in the long jump as Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy placed one-two, netting 18 points. Harvey edged out her teammate for the title by 0.01m with a leap of 21-05.25 (6.53m). Both jumps earned automatic qualifications to the NCAA Indoor Championships at Texas A&M in two weeks. The jumps rate as the second- and third-longest jumps in the nation this season. The Dolphins also scored a victory in the shot put as Hillary Crook uncorked a heave of 44-09.75 (13.66m), establishing another meet record.

“Both of us wanted to go to the NCAAs…and now there are no question marks, we’ll both be going together,” Harvey said.

But when asked if she would give her gold medal to her teammate, Harvey said, “No, I’ll keep it, but if she beats me the next time, that’s okay.”

UNF made its move up the standings by collecting 20 points in the high jump. Amy Stroder cleared 5-08.00 (1.73m) to defeat her teammate Elise Trexler by 0.05m. Stroder's win marked the first individual title for a UNF women’s athlete in meet history. The Ospreys added an additional two points when Emily Kohler took fifth. Amanda Davey helped secure 12 additional points by finishing second in the 3,000-meter run and anchoring the distance medley relay that placed fourth.

Gardner Webb will enter day two in third place, in no small part to two top-three finishes in the pentathlon. Victoria Argus broke the meet's scoring record for the event with 3,415 points, shattering the old mark of 3,200 points set in 2006 by Harvey. Her teammate, Kayla Martin took third in the event with 3,197 points.

“I’m so happy to win because I have been working so hard during this year and in the previous years,” Argus said. “I [set personal records] in all my events today.”

Other titles awarded on Friday included the 3,000-meter run in which USC Upstate’s Emily Tangwar earned the first A-Sun indoor title for the program, defeating UNF’s Davey by slightly more than one second. Belmont’s distance medley team captured gold, edging out Jacksonville by 0.23 seconds.

The women's championship concludes on Saturday with the weight throw, the pole vault, the mile, the 60-meter hurdles, the triple jump, the 400-meter dash, the 60-meter dash, the 800-meter run, the 200-meter dash, the 5,000-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay.

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 Championships
 • Live Scoring