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 Western Carolina stands in second after the first day of competition at the SoCon Indoor Championships. The meet will conclude on Saturday afternoon. |
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Feb. 25, 2005
SoCon Indoor Championships - Day One Results
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Johnson City, Tenn. - The Western Carolina men's and women's track and field teams both stand in second place after the first day of the 2005 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Memorial Center on the campus of East Tennessee State University.
With five men's events completed, Appalachian State leads the championship with 80.5 points, followed by Western Carolina in second with 50.5, and Chattanooga in third with 25 total points. On the women's side, the Mountaineer women are on top with 69 points after six events. Western is in second with 48 points, with Georgia Southern (39.5), Chattanooga (33.5), and East Tennessee State (18) rounding out the top five.
On the women's side, Western's Laura Tieszen picked up the first win of the day in the women's pentathlon tallying a total of 3,274 points in the event. Also, the WCU distance medley relay team of freshman Kerrie Savery, junior Deanna Kulesz, and seniors Tonya Edmonds and Leslie Martin took top prize, earning 10 points for the Catamounts. Martin also qualified with the fastest time of the day in her heat of the 8,000-meter run, crossing the line with a time of 2:16.75.
In the high jump finals, Western took four of the top five positions, led by Brittany Whitaker. Lady Catamount basketball player, freshman Jessika Johnson, joined the track team in Johnson City following Thursday night's game at Appalachian State and leaped to a third-place finish with a height of 1.67 meters. Tieszen tied for fourth with teammate Jessica Wilkerson.
Entering Saturday, Western has several athletes competing after qualifying in today's preliminaries. Freshman Raquel Ramseur qualified in the 60-meter, 200-meter, and the 400-meter dash. Asia Davis recorded the second-quickest time in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries and will be joined by NaShay McGriff in the finals.
On the men's side, action began with the start of the heptathlon. After four events Dustin Wright of Appalachian State leads with a total of 2,659 points, and is closely followed by Michael Wright of ETSU with 2,646 points, with a pair of Catamounts in the form of Matt Harlfinger and Bobby Robinson still in contention.
Freshman Chris Lewis placed fourth in the shot put, earning five points for the Catamount men, but was followed closely by teammates Jason Stepp and Shamar Allen in fifth and sixth in the event. Also scoring points on the first day was the distance medley relay team of sophomores Chris Lynch and Dylan Hermelee, junior Lawrence Briscoe, and freshman Fred Cameron, placing fifth.
Wes Willoughby finished third in the pole vault, soaring over a 4.55-meter height. He was followed by teammates Christian Benson in a tie for fourth and David McCall in seventh, both scoring points for the Cats.
Like the women, the Catamount men have several athletes qualified for Saturday's finals. Freshman Zeb Johnson turned in the quickest time in his heat to make it into the finals of the 60-meter dash where he'll be joined by teammates Michael Malone and Darius Bryson. Malone, James Barr, and James Gregory each qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash, with Gregory and Barr joining teammate Charleton Grant in the finals of the 400-meter dash.
Western will dominate the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, holding half of the qualifying spots and the fastest time in the prelims, turned by Lawrence Briscoe at 8.25. He is the Southern Conference record holder in the event.
The Southern Conference Championship action continues Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the continuation of the men's heptathlon and is scheduled to conclude at 4:15 p.m. with trophy presentations.
Men's Rankings - End of Day 1 1. Appalachian State 80.5 2. Western Carolina 50.5 3. Chattanooga 25 4. ETSU 15 5. UNC Greensboro 12 6. Wofford 6 7. Davidson 3 8. The Citadel 2Women's Rankings - End of Day 1 1. Appalachian State 69 2. Western Carolina 48 3. Georgia Southern 39.5 4. Chattanooga 33.5 5. ETSU 18 6. Furman 10 7. The Citadel 5 7. C of C 5 9. UNC Greensboro 3 9. Davidson 3
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