April 19, 2003
Boone, N.C.-Appalachian State completed its quest for the triple crown as the Mountaineers won the 2003 Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Boone, N.C. The ASU women finished with 230 points with the men finishing with 229 points. The win is the second straight triple crown for the men, the third straight outdoor title, and the 13th overall outdoor team title. The win was the 2nd straight outdoor title for the women and their 12th overall outdoor team title for the women. Appalachian State completed the triple crown by winning the 2002 SoCon Cross-Country team title, the 2003 SoCon Indoor Track and Field team title, and finally by winning the 2003 SoCon Outdoor Track and Field team title.
Appalachian State's Dan Queen started the day for the men, winning the decathlon with a final point total of 5,883 points followed by The Citadel's Travis Traylor (5,306). Western Carolina's Bobby Robinson (5,255) finished third in the event. In the 4x100 meter relay, it was Appalachian State's team coming in first, setting a new Southern Conference record with a time of 39.91 seconds. The Citadel (41.37) followed in second, with V.M.I. (41.83) behind them in third. East Tennessee State's Bradley Yewer took home top honors in the 1,500 meter run title, with a time of 3:51.16, followed by Western Carolina's Caleb Bailey (3:52.49) and Chattanooga's Colin Sullivan (3:52.78). In the 400-meter dash, it was The Citadel's Alex Prince taking home first place and an NCAA regional spot with a time of 47.29 seconds. Right behind him was Western Carolina's Milton Bolton (47.34), who also qualified for NCAA regionals. V.M.I., in their final appearance as a SoCon school, took home the title in the 110-meter hurdles, as Jeff McKelvin finished in 14.45 seconds. Coming in second was Chattanooga's Chris Harrington (14.79 seconds) and in third, Western Carolina's Lawrence Briscoe (14.81 sec.) Appalachian State completed the sweep in the 100-meter dash, as Jason Green won the event and qualified for the NCAA regionals with a time of 10.42 seconds. Behind him were teammates Ernest Wiggins (10.6) and Sean Jackson (10.62). Green, who was named the 2003 Southern Conference Most Outstanding Track performer, took home his second title of the weekend by winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.27 seconds. Behind him was teammate Ernest Wiggins (21.38) and Catamount Milton Bolton (21.45). In the 800 meter run, it was the Catamounts Caleb Bailey taking home the title, with a final time of 1:53.15 followed by Chattanooga's Robert Hatcher (1:53.33). In the 400-meter hurdles, it was Chattanooga's Chris Harrington who took home top honors with a time of 52.88 seconds, followed by a pair of Keydets. DeAngello Plather came in second (52.92) and teammate Bryan Yerger finished third (54.22). The 4x400 relay team from The Citadel took home first place with a time of 3:12.18, with Western Carolina (3:13.85) and V.M.I. (3:14.66) rounding out the top three. In the 5,000 meter run, Chattanooga finished one and two, with Steven Kocsis winning with a time of 14:48.45 and teammate Gediminas Banevicius (14:55.96) in second. V.M.I. took the top two spots in the high jump competition, as Chris Walker finished first with a mark of 6-9, followed by teammate Garrett Brickner (6-7).
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Chattanooga's Gina Recher took home her second title of the weekend, as she won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:34.35 followed by the Mountaineer duo of Sarah Primeau (17:42.6) and Janelle Silverman (17:47.45). Recher, from UT Chattanooga, was named the 2003 Most Outstanding Track Performer for her work in the 10,000 and 5,000-meter runs.
In the 200 meter dash, it was the 2003 Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year, Georgia Southern's Rashedah Arnold taking home top honors with a time of 24.13 seconds with Chattanooga's Shameka Johnson (24.28) and Southern's Giselle Cunningham (24.38). Georgia Southern continued their winning ways in the 400-meter hurdles, with Marlo Mincey winning the event and setting a new Southern Conference record with a time of 1:00.16. The Chattanooga duo of Dawn Harden (1:01.81) and Elisabeth Sain (1:02.16) rounded out the top three. Arnold, of Georgia Southern took home her second title of the day as she won the 100 meter dash in a time of 11.87 seconds followed by Appalachian State's Jennifer Claud (11.97) and Chattanooga's Latavia Shores (12.10). In the 400-meter dash, Chattanooga's Shameka Johnson won the title with a time of 53.99 seconds, qualifying her for the NCAA regionals. Also qualifying for regionals was the second place finisher ETSU's Kim Simmons (54.96) followed by Chattanooga's Tiffany Pointer (55.41). In the distance event of the day, the 1,500 meter run, it was ASU's Katie Sujkowski coming in first with a time of 4:39.86 followed by the Chattanooga's duo of Amy Doolittle (4:41.25) and Gina Recher (4:44.7) to round out the top three. In the 4x100 relay, Georgia Southern's relay team not only won the event, but also qualified for the NCAA regionals with a time of 45.83 seconds. Also qualifying for regionals, coming in second place was the Appalachian State team (46.18). Rounding out third place was the relay team from ETSU (47.39). The relay team from Georgia Southern was not done for the day however, as they also won the 4x400 meter relay and qualified for the NCAA regionals with a time of 3:45.16. The Golden Eagles were followed by ETSU (3:50.42) in second, and Chattanooga (3:50.9) in third. In the 800 meter run, Western's Leslie Martin took home first place with a time of 2:13.65 followed by ASU's Katie Sujkowski (2:15:25) and Amy Doolittle (2:16.83).
Appalachian State's Ronda White began her winning ways with the long jump victory in day one, and continued through Saturday. She took home the title in the 100-meter hurdles with a NCAA regional qualifying time of 13.98 seconds followed by Western Carolina's Michelle Velez (14.00), who also qualified for regionals. Finishing third was Ronda's sister, Tondra White (14.36). In the triple jump, it was an Appalachian State sweep as Ronda White took home top honors, as well as her second NCAA regional qualifying time with a mark of 41-8 followed by teammate Jennifer Claud (39-8.5) and Tondra White (39-3.25). In the discus throw, it was ASU's LaShana Poole, who was named Most Outstanding Field Performer, taking home top honors with a mark of 148-08. Coming in second was College of Charleston's Lindsay Baber (143-01) and in third, Shaletha Lightfoot (141-11). Western Carolina's Laura Tieszen won the pole vaulting event with a mark of 12-6, good enough for an NCAA regional berth. In second were ASU's Suzanne Makinson (12-0) and Western's Dana Anglin (11-6.25) in third, both also qualifying for the NCAA regionals. In the women's high jump, ETSU's Cheryl Howard took home top honors with a height of 5-5.0 followed by Georgia Southern's Kellie Mitchell (5-05) and ASU's Tondra White (5-05). In the shot put event, V.M.I.'s Mildred Cooper won with a mark of 43-5.75. The ASU duo of LaShana Poole (41-8) and Beverly Burnett (41-7) rounded out the top three. Finally, in the women's heptathlon, Appalachian State's Tondra White won the two-day event with a final point count of 4,388 followed by ETSU's Kristin Truman (4094) and Chattanooga's Alison Frese (3940). Georgia Southern's coach, Todd Lane was named the 2003 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year by his peers.
Complete results from the 2003 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships can be found at www.soconsports.com.
Women's Most Outstanding Track Performer - Gina Recher UTC Most Outstanding Field Performer - LaShana Poole ASU Freshman of the Year - Reshedah Arnold GSU Coach of the Year - Todd Lane GSU
Men's Most Outstanding Track Performer - Jason Green ASU Most Outstanding Field Performer - Adrien Borders WC Freshman of the Year - John Robertson WCU Coach of the Year - John Weaver ASU
Men's Final Points Standings Women's Final Points Standings 1. Appalachian State 229 1. Appalachian State 230 2. Western Carolina 178 2. Georgia Southern 154 3. Chattanooga 100 3. Chattanooga 153 4. V.M.I. 97.5 4. Western Carolina 111 5. The Citadel 70.5 5. ETSU 67 6. ETSU 47.5 6. V.M.I. 31 7. Furman 38.5 7. Furman 21 8. Wofford 38 8. College of Charleston 17 9. Davidson 19 9. The Citadel 10 10. Davidson 9 10. UNCG 9 12. Wofford 2
