Brusich, Daane And Maxwell Win Conference Titles On Final Day Of A-Sun Championship
May 17, 2008 | Track & Field
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Gardner-Webb women's track and field team took fourth place while the men finished fifth at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Championships, which concluded Saturday evening on the campus of Clemson University.
The women's squad tallied 90 points while Jacksonville was first with 170. Belmont was second with 120 points while UNF finished third with 103.50 points.
The men's team tallied 99 points. Kennesaw State won with 170.
Campbell (135.50) was second, Belmont (124.50) was third and ETSU
took fourth (105).
Rookie Evan Brusich vaulted to the top of the decathlon list on the final day of competition. Heading into Saturday's events, Brusich was fifth. However, he came out in full force beginning with the first event. He won the 110m hurdles by nearly three-tenths of a second for 753 points. He then won the discus with a mark of 34.27m (112'5") for another 549 points. He placed fifth in the pole vault and sixth in the javelin before running as hard as he could in the 1,500m, the final event. His time of 4:33.10 was good enough for second place, but he tallied 724 points in the event, sending him into a first-place tie with Logan Brelsford of Campbell as each totaled 5,935 points. The point total was a personal best for Brusich in addition to a school-record performance, besting the previous mark by 90 points.
Justin Keziah won the 1,500m event in the decathlon with a time of 4:31.70.
In the discus event, senior Elizabeth Maxwell extended her collegiate career by winning the event with a mark of 38.58m (126'7") for 10 points. Coming in, her best throw was 40.59m (133'2"), but she didn't need it all as second-place competitor Hanna Joiner could muster a throw of just 38.11m (125'). Teammate and rookie Tabitha Hamilton earned all-conference honors with a third-place finish. She recorded a throw of 36.32m (119'2").
"I've never been the strong person in the discus, but everything is starting to work for me," Maxwell said. "It feels really good. Instead of saying the last time I've ever been able to be down to one meet, it feels great to be able to extend my career for one more meet. It's great to be able to continue working out, be part of a team and continue to be coached. In this event, I've been inconsistent all three years, but just in the last week everything has started to click."
Caryn Daane also earned an automatic bid to the NCAA East Regional by winning the shot put. Daane posted a personal-best mark of 13.00m (42'8"). Maxwell was second in the event with a season-best toss of 12.67m (41'7").
"When Caryn won, it was one of the best feelings ever," Maxwell said. "I knew when she threw 13 meters she'd win. Having her with me at the regional championships will make the experience that much better."
Victoria Argus took fourth in the highly competitive heptathlon by scoring 4,443 points. Teammate Kayla Morgan was just behind her, finishing fifth with 4,368 points. Morgan won the javelin portion of the heptathlon with a throw of 34.87m (114'5"). Argus was second in the event with a throw of 30.83m (101'2").
Bree Tharpe posted a solid time of 13:18.45 in the 3,000m steeplechase. Her time was good enough for sixth place. Freshman Diana Palka's time of 13:29.78 earned her a seventh-place finish.
Three-sport student-athlete Beth Long bested her seed time in the 800m. Long narrowly missed scoring for the Bulldogs after crossing in 2:21.12, just 23 hundredths of a second behind sixth-place finisher Victoria Currie.
Johnathon Rucker garnered all-conference honors with a high jump effort of 2.00m (6'6.75"), which was just two inches shy of Jerome McKinzie's winning mark.
Two-sport standout Vonzell Pittman boasted all-conference honors as
well in his last collegiate competition. Pittman, who just started
competing in the triple jump this year, placed third with a mark of
14.41m (47'3.50").
Paul Steinke also picked up A-Sun all-conference honors for the last time by placing third in the 400m hurdles with a time of 53.91. Rucker also tallied points in the competition by taking fifth in a time of 56.39.
Senior Lucas McAneney narrowly missed topping the school record in the 5,000m event. His time of 15:14.06 was good enough for fourth place and four team points.
Dobson Collins almost garnered all-conference honors in the 110m hurdles. His time of 14.56 earned him a fourth-place finish. Collins was seeded fifth heading into the finals of the 100m, took fourth after he crossed the line in 10.81.
Tim Israel's time of 3:59.45 was just off his school record time that he set earlier in the year. However, his sub-four minute time was good enough for fifth place and two team points. Alex Nimmo wasn't too far behind, taking seventh in 4:05.63.
Matt Knippen tallied a fifth-place performance in the shot put with a heave of 14.97m (49'1.50"). In the discus, Knippen got on the scoreboard with a sixth-place effort. Knippen had an effort of 40.57m (133'1").
Joshua Hudson's time of 9:58.14 was good enough for sixth place.
Charlie Steinke ran his best time of the season in the 800m event, crossing the line in 1:56.08, which was over a second faster than his previous top time. He missed scoring for GWU by under a second.
Caryn Daane, Jerel Langley, Carrie Long and Elizabeth Maxwell will now head to the East Regional Championships May 30-31 in Tallahassee, Fla. Florida State is the host institution.
For full results, go to http://atlanticsun.org/stats/otf/2008/daytwo.htm
