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 The Western Carolina Invitational is scheduled for Saturday, March 31 at the Catamount Athletic Complex on-campus in Cullowhee. |
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March 29, 2007
2007 Western Carolina Invitational Meet Schedule
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Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina Catamount men's and women's track & field teams will entertain eight teams this Saturday, March 31, in the non-team scored Western Carolina Invitational, to be held at the on-campus Catamount Athletic Complex.
Action commences at 10:00 am with the start of the field events for the men's hammer throw and the women's javelin, with the first track event - the men and women's 3,000-meter steeplechase - set to start at Noon. The full day of action culminates with the men and women's 4x400-meter relays around 4:45 pm.
In addition to Western's men and women, additional teams scheduled to be in Cullowhee this weekend include defending men's and women's Southern Conference indoor champion, Appalachian State, East Carolina, UNC Asheville, Mars Hill, King College, Lees McRae and Brevard. Also, Clemson will send athletes from its men's squad, with close to 50 additional unattached athletes slated to compete.
"We are always excited about hosting a track event here in Cullowhee," said Western Carolina head coach Danny Williamson. "Our facilities are top notch and it is great to allow our student-athletes to perform in front of their home fans, friends and family. With the teams and athletes coming in this weekend, there should be great competition across the board in every event."
Williamson concluded, "Our goals this weekend are to continue showing the steady progress and improvement like we have previous weeks this outdoor season. This weekend is another stepping stone or a building block as we head down towards the conference championship."
Since it opened in April of 2005, the Catamount Athletic Complex has played host to four previous events, including two Catamount Classic meets, the 2005 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships and last season's first-annual Western Carolina Invitational. The on-campus facility features an eight-lane, 400-meter Beynon 1000 System with two pole vault, long jump/triple jump runways with pits on either end. The complex also includes a 66' X 108' high jump apron, two Javelin runways, one shot put and discus area located inside the track and one hammer/discus area which was recently re-located to directly beside the track.
Last season, Western posted 33 podium performances, including a combined 14 first-place finishes at the event. Additionally, eight facility records were broken including five on the men's side and three on the women's.
This year, 10 of the current facility record holders are slated to return in competition, eight of which are Catamounts. WCU seniors Mike Malone and James Gregory, as well as sophomore Kevin Johnson, were each part of the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams, respectively, that set facility records with the 400-meter relay record coming last season while the 1,600-meter event benchmark was set at the SoCon Championships. Also on the men's side, Western junior David Bowles set a facility record of 187-11 in the javelin at the conference championship with Clemson sophomore George Fields leaping 24-4.50 meters in the long jump at the 2006 Catamount Classic and Appalachian's Anthony Greer holding both the shot put (58-1.75) and discus (163-2) records from the SoCon Championship.
On the women's side seniors Asia Davis and Brittany Whitaker hold individual benchmarks in the 400-meter hurdles (59.56, WCU Invitational in 2006) and high jump (5-7.25, SoCon Championship, 2005), respectively. Davis also teamed with juniors Raquel Ramseur and Tangelia Johnson to hold the 4x100-meter relay record, and along with Ramseur, is in the record book in the 4x400-meter relay.
Official accommodations for the 2007 Western Carolina Invitational are provided by the Hampton Inn in Cherokee, the Holiday Inn in Cherokee and the Best Western Great Smokies. Also, special considerations provided by Papa's Pizza to Go of Cullowhee, which is providing vouchers redeemable at their nightly pizza buffet for all teams and fans that attend this year's meet.
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