May 29, 2006

Cullowhee, N.C. - Junior Asia Davis led a good Western Carolina showing at the 2006 NCAA Track & Field East Regional in Greensboro over the weekend, setting a school record during preliminaries and placing fourth in the women's 400-meter hurdles. In addition to Davis, the 11 Catamount student-athletes combined to set a pair of school records, also raising the bar in the women's 4x400-meter relay.

While no Catamounts received automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento, Calif., June 7-10, Western will now await word on whether or not any of its student-athletes will receive at-large bids, with Davis holding the best opportunity.

Davis won the most competitive heat during Friday's preliminaries as three individuals made it to the finals from the first flight. She posted the third-fastest time of the day at 58.05, which was nearly seven-tenths of a second faster than her previous school-record time of 58.73 set last year at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Davis also posted WCU's seasonal-best time in the event by nearly a full second and a half over her SoCon preliminary time set three weeks ago (59.53).

In the finals, Davis ran 59.73 to eclipse the 60-second mark for the fifth-time this season to move from her 12th-place pre-regional ranking to finish seventh.

Running in a heat which turned the second-quickest time of the meet, sophomore Tangelia Johnson posted a mark of 11.71 in the 100-meter dash to finish fourth behind eventual event champion, Shalonda Solomon from South Carolina. Johnson entered the meet ranked 16th, duplicating that on the track with the 16th-best time out of the 27 competitors and just eight, one-hundreths of a second off her seasonal-best time.

Her classmate, sophomore Raquel Ramseur, also posted the 16th-best time out of the 27 entered in the women's 400-meter dash at 54.80, just over half a second slower than her Southern Conference Championship time of 54.15. Ramseur finished third overall in her heat behind two runners that finished fourth and eighth in the finals.

Western Carolina's men's squad entered the event having already established a trio of school records this season, including the 200-meter dash and in both the 400- and 1,600-meter relays. Two Catamounts took aim at the 200-meter regional championship as sophomore Zeb Johnson and freshman Manteo Mitchell both qualified on time this season. At the meet, Johnson finished fourth in his heat while Mitchell was fifth with times of 21.25 and 21.45, respectively. Johnson's time was the 14th-best in the region while Mitchell was 16th during the preliminary rounds.

Senior Milton Bolton, who was WCU's first to qualify for the regionals as well as the SoCon champion at the 400-meter distance, ran 48.36 during the preliminary competition. His time was nearly a second and a half off his seasonal-best, but was just a little over two seconds off the top time run during the opening round placing him 20th. His classmate, senior Adam Puett, who qualified for the regional by winning the SoCon 1,500-meter championship, posted a time of 3:56.19 to also finish 20th, three-positions higher than his pre-regional ranking of 23rd.

A third senior, Lawrence Briscoe, finished fourth in his preliminary heat of the men's 110-meter hurdles, but managed to turn in his best-time of the season after negotiating the hurdles in 14.18, tied for 18th out of 30 competitors. The top two from Briscoe's heat went on to finish first and third in the regional finals.

Zeb Johnson and Bolton teamed with Mike Malone and freshman Kevin Johnson in the men's 4x100-meter relay to run 40.88, which was a little over half a second slower than their previous seasonal-best -- and school-record -- time of 40.23 turned in at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Western finished fourth in its heat but managed the 12th-best time in the region.

Like the women, the men's 4x400-meter relay team posted the 10th quickest time on Saturday as Bolton, Mitchell, Malone, and Johnson passed the baton in 3:09.88 to finish sixth in their heat. Six of the top eight finishers came from the Catamounts' heat including the regional champion, South Carolina, and runner-up, Wake Forest.

Western Carolina Athletes in the NCAA East Regional:

Name (Class)                     Event            Fin.         Time
Milton Bolton (Sr.)              400m Dash        20th        48.36
Lawrence Briscoe (Sr.)           110m Hurdles     18th        14.18
Zeb Johnson (So.)                200m Dash        14th        21.25
Manteo Mitchell (Fr.)            200m Dash        16th        21.45
Adam Puett (Sr.)                 1500m Run        20th      3:56.19
Zeb Johnson, Mike Malone         4x100m Relay     12th        40.23
Milton Bolton, Kevin Johnson
Milton Bolton, Manteo Mitchell   4x400m Relay     10th      3:09.88
Mike Malone, Zeb Johnson

Asia Davis (Jr.)                 400m Hurdles      7th        58.05
Tangelia Johnson (So.)           100m Dash        16th        11.71
Raquel Ramseur (So.)             400m Dash        16th        54.80
Aneesha Lane, Raquel Ramseur     4x400m Relay     10th      3:39.36
Asia Davis, Tangelia Johnson