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 Sophomore Manteo Mitchell (left) broke both a school and facility record in the men's 400-meter dash on Saturday, taking first-place in two events overall. |
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March 31, 2007
2007 Western Carolina Invitational Complete Results
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Cullowhee, N.C. - The Catamount men's and women's track & field team combined for 37 podium finishes, including 13 first-place finishes at Saturday's Western Carolina Invitational hosted by the squad at the on-campus Catamount Athletic Complex. Headlining the meet was WCU sophomore Manteo Mitchell who broke both the school and facility record with an NCAA qualifying mark of 46.23 in the men's 400-meter dash, with senior Asia Davis capturing both 100-and 400-meter hurdle events.
Overall, Western posted 63 top five finishes at its lone home meet of the season. The Catamount men recorded 18 top three finishes, five of which were meet championships, while the women had 19 podium performances, eight of which were first place finishes.
All told, between NCAA Division I and Division II, as well as NAIA qualifying standards, 14 student-athletes qualified for their respective regional or national competitions. Also, seven Catamount Athletic Complex records fell on Saturday (men's 110-meter hurdles; men's 400-meter dash; men's 1,600-meter relay; men's hammer; men's shot put; men's pole vault and women's 800-meter run).
Mitchell broke the 23-year old school record held by Earl Bates (46.25), who set the benchmark in the 1984 Southern Conference championship, by two-one hundredths of a second. He clocked 46.23 to win the event, shattering the old track record by 1.07 seconds and edged Brandon Small of East Carolina, who also broke the old track record (46.32). The Mooresboro, N.C., native also claimed the top spot in the men's 200-meter dash, running 21.35 to take the top spot.
In other men's track events, the Catamounts claimed first and second in the men's 800-meter as senior Dan Fassinger clipped freshman teammate Jestin Jennings, running 1:53.94 just in front of the rookies 1:54.32. WCU also dominated the podium in the 400-meter hurdles as Mike Malone (53.78) ran first and Ogden Hansford ran third (55.00).
Western took first through fourth in the men's high jump as freshman Matt Evans claimed first-place by clearing 2.03 meters (6-7.75). He edged teammates Rashad Herndon (1.88m, 6-2.0), Daniel Joseph (1.83m, 6-0.0) and Anthony Rogers (1.83m, 6-0.0).
Davis, who qualified for the NCAA Nationals last season in the 400-meter hurdles, continued her strong spring by winning both women's hurdle events on Saturday. The Charlotte, N.C., native captured the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.85 to beat out teammate NaShay McGriff in third (15.03). Davis won the 400-meter hurdles by nearly three full seconds, running 1:01.39 to claim the top spot.
Senior Asia Davis won both of the women's hurdle events on Saturday. |
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In the other women's competition, junior Kerrie Savery and senior Deanna Kulesz each recorded first-place runs as Savery out ran the field in the 800-meter run (2:12.13) to best her senior counterpart in second at 2:15:62. Savery's mark broke the track record and was the only women's facility benchmark to fall during the competition. Kulesz climbed to the top of the podium in the 5,000-meter run, clocking 18:26.89 in the longest event of the meet. WCU also went one-two in the women's 400-meter dash as junior Raquel Ramseur won the event (54.87) to win over teammate Aneesha Lane (57.82), also by nearly three full seconds.
Both of WCU's women's 4x100-meter relay teams finished in the top three as the "A" team won the event (46.30) with the "B" squad placing third (49.69). In the longer of the two, the Catamounts' "A" team again won the event with a time of (3:48.0).
Two-sport standout Jessika Johnson, who also plays for the Lady Catamount basketball team and is the defending SoCon Outdoor High Jump Champion, captured the same event by clearing 1.70m (5-6.75) to knock off teammate Brittany Whitaker (1.65m, 5-4.75) in second place.
Junior Kerrie Savery (front) out ran senior teammate, Deanna Kulesz (left) in the 800-meter run. Kulesz won the 5,000-meter run at the WCU Invitational. |
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Additional facility records that fell on the men's side Saturday included the men's hammer throw as the top two finishers - Terrance Myers and Eric Frasure of East Carolina - each surpassed the old mark with NCAA qualifying standards of 59.65m (195-8.25) and 58.81m (192-11.25), respectively. Appalachian State's Anthony Greer eclipsed his own facility record of two years ago in the men's shot put, hurling the orb 18.03 meters (59-1.75), while his Mountaineer teammate, Charles Derrickson, set the track benchmark with a time of 14.25 in the 110-meter hurdles to win the event. Clemson's Mitch Greeley won the men's pole vault with a facility-best of 5.05 meters (16-6.75).
Western Carolina returns to action next weekend, April 5-7, at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla., which is also the site of the 2007 NCAA East Regional.
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