 |
 Junior Manteo Mitchell had a pair of top-five finishes, including a victory in the 400-dash |
 |
Feb. 2, 2008
Akron, Ohio - The Western Carolina Track & Field team brought home a pair of victories to highlight their combined ten podium victories at the Akron Open held over the weekend in Akron, Ohio. Scoring the victory for the women was freshman Jordan Gaddy, who earned her first career win in the women's one mile run, with a career-best time of 5:15.11. On the men's side, junior Manteo Mitchell took top honors in the 400-meter dash in a time of 48.04, the second-fastest time for a WCU runner in the past two years, just missing his own top time of 47.98, ran at this event last season.
The men's team finished the meet with a total of 6 podium finishes, including Dominique Young's third-place in the 200-meter dash. His time of 21.49 was a mere .03 seconds off the school record in the event, set back in 1988. He was joined in the top-five by Mitchell, who added to his victory in the 400-meter dash with a fifth-place finish in the 200.
Young and teammate Zeb Johnson then battled for the top spot in the men's 60-meter dash, and event in which Western had three of the top eight finishers. Johnson took home runner-up honors in the event with a time of 6.81 seconds, with Young on his tail in third at 6.85 seconds. Fellow Catamount Christian Bethune rounded out the WCU contingent in the top-ten with an eighth-place mark of 7.08 seconds.
Daniel Joseph also found the podium for the Catamounts, finishing in second place in the triple jump, with a season-best mark of 18.83 meters. Joseph then cracked the top ten in the men's high jump, tying teammate Rashad Herndon for sixth place with a high mark of 1.90 meters.
Among the four podium finishes for the women was junior Annie Bailey, who ran a career-best time of 2:20.51 in the 800-meter run to bring home third place. The aforementioned Gaddy also took top-ten honors in the event, following her win in the mile run with a yet another career mark, coming in sixth place in a time of 2:22.00.
Western Carolina continued its season-long dominance in the 400-meter dash at the Open with three top-ten finishes in the women's event, led by Raquel Ramsuer, who brought home a career-best time of 55.27 to finish in third place. Her time was also the fastest run by a Catamount woman in the 400-meter this season. Janet Carothers followed in seventh place at 56.79, and Shayln McMichael rounded out the top ten at 56.96.
The WCU 4x400-meter relay "A" team of Carothers, Aneesha Lane, Tierra Johnson, and Annie Bailey tripped the tape in a time of 3:55.13, just two seconds off their season-best time, to finish in third place in the event. The team has now finished in the top-three in every meet they've competed in so far this season.
The two teams will travel to familiar territory next weekend when they head to Boone, N.C. to compete in the ASU Limited Open, on Friday, February 8. It will be the second time they have gone to a meet in Boone this season, after opening the 2007-08 indoor schedule at the Appalachian State Opener.
|
|
 |
