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 Junior Nicole Lopez won the Appalachian Limited Open weight throw competition on Thursday in Boone. |
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Feb. 9, 2007
Boone, N.C. - Roughly 20 Western Carolina track & field student-athletes competed at the Appalachian Limited Indoor Open on Thursday afternoon in preparation for the weekend's Tiger Invitational at Clemson and the rapidly approaching Southern Conference indoor meet (Feb. 17-18).
Headlining the competition for WCU was junior thrower Nicole Lopez who won the women's weight throw and her senior counterpart, Sharhonda Bell, who took third in the women's shot put. Also, junior Chris Page took third in the men's shot put to round out the podium finishes for the Catamounts.
Lopez established a seasonal benchmark with her throw of 16.32m (53-6.5) in taking the weight throw competition, with Bell (14.48m, 47-6.25), Tara Touszen (12.94m, 42-5.5) and Rachel Karriker (12.64m, 41-5.75) also posting their best outing of the season. Bell set a team-best mark in the shot put with a distance of 12.37 meters (40-7.0).
In the pole vault, both Melissa Cabe (3.20m, 10-6.0) and Amanda Massey (2.90m, 9-6.25) both tied their season's best heights.
Using the meet as a tune-up for the multis, Morgan Broadnax and Jessica Wilkerson also posted their best seasonal distances in the shot put, while also competing in the 55-meter hurdles.
On the men's side, Christian Bethune posted his best time of the season in the 55-meter dash (6.59), while Ashten Bennett clocked Western's second-best seasonal time in the 55-meter hurdles at 7.99. Also turning in their best performances of the year in the 55m hurdles were Ogden Hansford (8.05) and David Gift (8.48).
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In the field events, Cale McDaniel threw his best this season in the weight throw (13.22m, 43-4.5), with Bennett, Harlfinger, and Gift also reaching their best distances in preparation for the multi events at SoCon.
Western returns to action this Friday and Saturday at the Tiger Invitational in Clemson, S.C.
