Feb. 23, 2006
Cullowhee, N.C. -
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Cullowhee, N.C. - Head coach Danny Williamson and the Western Carolina track & field teams will look to improve upon last season's runner-up finishes this Friday and Saturday at the 2006 Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Clemson Indoor Track Facility in Clemson, S.C. The two-day meet, which will be held in conjunction with the Big South Conference, will feature 17 total events between the men and women's sides. Live scoring of the event will be available through www.SoConSports.com.
"It should be another classic Southern Conference Championship this weekend," said Williamson, the reigning SoCon men's indoor Coach of the Year. "The goal of our program as a whole is that every year, when championship time rolls around, we want to be in a position to contend for both individual championships and a team title. I feel that if we stay focused as a team and do what we are capable of as individuals to help the team, and not get caught up in the hype then we have two legitimate chances at bringing home a championship to Cullowhee, continuing on what the women's soccer team started in the fall."
Entering the championships, the Appalachian State women are currently first in the Southern Conference Power Rankings with 142 points, leading Western (138.5) by a mere 3.5 points. Georgia Southern is currently third (110) with Chattanooga (90) and Elon (65.5) rounding out the top five. The Catamount men currently total 271.5 points, which leads second place Appalachian State (209.5) by 62 points. Davidson (40) and UNC Greensboro (34) round out the top half of the competition.
Western Carolina last won the men's indoor championship in 2004, with the women last hoisting the championship trophy during indoor season in 2000. Entering this weekend's championship, Western currently leads 13 of the SoCon's seasonal performance charts all together, including seven (6 track, 1 field) on the men's side and six (5 track, 1 field) in women's competition.
Last spring's outdoor men's SoCon Freshman of the Year, sophomore Zeb Johnson, tops two individual track categories alone, while ranking among the leaders in several additional events. Johnson ran the SoCon's best in the 60-meter dash with a time 6.87 seconds at the Akron Open in early February, just edging senior teammate Milton Bolton with the league's second-best time, 6.90. Combined in the event, WCU holds four of the top five times and six of the top eight marks in the conference this season. Johnson also leads Bolton and classmate Mike Malone in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.60, also ran at Akron.
Junior James Gregory leads Bolton, Malone, and freshman Manteo Mitchell on the 400-meter time charts with a 49.10 as Western holds the top four and five of six in the event. On the distance side of things, junior Dan Fassinger and senior Adam Puett rank first and second in the conference in the mile run with near-identical times of 4:09.80 and 4:10.60. The two flip-flop in the 3,000-meter time sheets, ranking second and third with Puett's time of 8:31.09 and Fassinger's mark of 8:31.14 just a forward lean apart. Rounding out the track portion for Western, senior Lawrence Briscoe, who holds the SoCon's 60-meter hurdle record, ranks second on the time charts this year with a quicker mark than last season's record-setting time (8.19 this year, 8.20 last season), while the 4x400-meter relay team Bolton, Mitchell, Gregory, and Johnson hold the season's best time of 3:13.76. But, the second and third teams for Western also would rank ahead of the second-place team in the relay category, Appalachian State.
Briscoe also holds the season's best mark in the high jump, clearing 1.98-meters (6'6.0") at the Mountaineer Winter Open on Jan. 28 to claim first place. In additional field events, freshman Rashad Herndon ranks second on the individual distance charts in the long jump with his leap of 7.08-meters (23'2.75") in Boone in late January, while sophomore Jerod Kelly ranks second in both the men's shot put (15.04-meters, 49'4.25") and 35-pound weight throw (16.58-meters, 54'4.75") with teammates sophomore Chris Page ranking fourth in the shot and junior Willie Sturgis fourth in the weight throw. Senior Wes Willoughby and Joel Lynch rank third and fourth in the men's pole vault, with junior Ashten Bennett ranking second on the heptathlon scoring charts this indoor season.
In women's competition, the 2005 women's SoCon indoor freshman of the year, Raquel Ramseur, ranks atop two categories entering the `06 meet with four individual first place finishes during the regular season. The Charlotte, N.C., native leads classmate Tangelia Johnson in the 200-meter dash by two tenths of a second, 24.75-to-24.95, and is a full second quicker on the 400-meter time charts over junior Asia Davis, 55.10-to-56.10. Johnson holds the best 60-meter dash time this season, running a 7.61 at both the Niswonger and Clemson Invitationals, while Davis ranks third on the 60-meter hurdle charts with WCU's best time of 8.83.
All told, Western holds three of the top 60-meter dash times, three of the top seven times in the 200-meter dash, and four of the top seven marks in the 400-meter dash.
Sophomore Kerrie Savery leads the Southern Conference in the 800-meter event, turning in the league's best time of 2:14.09 at the Akron Open in early February. She is also slated to be entered in the mile run after clocking WCU's best time of the season, 5:15.67, 10th in the SoCon. The Catamounts also hold the 4x400-meter relay top time this season as the team of sophomore Brooke Saddler, Ramseur, Davis, and Johnson ran 3:47.28 at the Niswonger Invitational.
In the field events, junior Brittany Whitaker enters the meet tied for first on the high jump standards, clearing a league-best 1.65-meters (5'5.0") this season. Freshman Angela Stark ranks third with a height of 1.57-meters (5'1.75") and Jessica Wilkerson is sixth, clearing 1.47-meters (4'9.75"). Senior Tiffany Mack is Western's best chance in both the triple and long jumps, ranking in the top eight in each event with freshman Rashanda Simmons standing eighth in the long jump this season. Both junior Sharhonda Bell (7th in shot) and sophomore Nicole Lopez (5th shot, 10th in weight) rank among the top 10 in the shot put and 20-pound weight throw events, while sophomore Jessie Wilson (6th in SoCon) is the Cats' best chance in the women's pole vault. Each individual will be counted upon to score points to help WCU reach the women's team podium.
New to this seasons' equation in the SoCon is a 25-person roster limit per each school's men and women's team.
"Having the 25-person roster this season will bring some parity into the mix, as well as add more strategy in relation to entering particular people in certain events. In the past, schools with large rosters could enter multiple individuals and sweep most of the points. Now, having a smaller roster from which to chose from while still having the same events, teams will have to pick and choose where they want their athletes to compete," added Williamson.
Appalachian State swept the 2005 SoCon Championships in Johnson City, Tenn., winning its 14th men's and fifth-consecutive women's indoor title. The Mountaineers edged defending champion, Western Carolina, on the men's side by a small, seven point margin and by a 9.33-point margin on the women's side. Western returns two individual champions from that squad as senior Lawrence Briscoe broke the Southern Conference record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.20 in 2005 and senior Adam Puett won the mile run with a time of 4:13.48.
The 42nd Annual Men's and 24th Annual Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field NCAA Championships will be held at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track in Fayetteville, Ark., on the campus of the University of Arkansas from March 10-11.
Western Carolina's Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships
Men: 1999, 2004
Women: 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000
Western Carolina's Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Individual Awards
Men:
Outstanding Performer: Shawn Miller, 1993
Outstanding Track Performer: Caleb Bailey, 2002
Freshman of the Year: Jeremy Carter, 1999; Derrick High, 2000; Milton Bolton, 2002; John Robertson, 2003; James Gregory, 2004
Women:
Outstanding Performer: Daree Thompson, 1997; Rosalyn Hood, 2000
Freshman of the Year: Virginia LaCombe, 1999; Raquel Ramseur, 2005
Field Outstanding Performer: Laura Tieszen, 2005
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