GWU Women Remain in Third-Place; GWU Men Fall to Sixth After Day Two At the 2011 BSC Outdoor Track and Field Championships
April 23, 2011 | Track & Field
Lexington, Va. - The Gardner-Webb outdoor track & field teams both had a number of strong showings on Friday, as the women's team remained in third-place, while the men's team fell to sixth-place overall after day two of the 2011 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Lexington, Va.
The women's team increased its point total to 58.50 points on Friday, putting the Runnin' Bulldogs one point behind second-place Liberty (59.50 points) and 31.50 points behind Coastal Carolina who is in first-place.
The Gardner-Webb women performances' were highlighted by sophomore Ashlei Alexander's first-place finish in the shot put event. Alexander, who earned all-conference on Thursday in the hammer throw, earned all-conference honors in the shot put event with a first-place finish and a GWU school record throw of 13.88 meters (45'6.50") in the finals.
Junior Ann Marie Howell earned all-conference recognition on Friday with her second-place finish in the women's pole vault event, as she cleared the bar at 3.70 meters (12'1.50").
Howell led a number of Runnin' Bulldogs in the pole vault event, as senior Carrie Long placed fourth with a height of 3.55 meters (11'07.75"), edging out sophomores Taylor Cook and Bethany Wright, who placed fifth and eighth overall with heights of 3.55 meters (11'7.75") and 3.25 meters (10'8"), respectively, both of which were personal best marks.
Freshman Kristen Hurley picked up all-conference honors with a third-place finish in the women's heptathlon with 4179 total points, which surpassed the facility record of 4112 points.
Sophomore Yazzming Lee, who recorded a personal best mark of 11.94 meters (39'2.25") in the preliminaries of the shot put, set a new personal best mark in the finals with a distance of 12.03 meters (39'5.75") to place sixth overall.
In the 3000 meter steeplechase, senior Diana Palka crossed the finish line in seventh-place with her time of 11:30.66, placing just ahead of fellow teammate Elisabeth Sawyer who finished in eighth-place with a time of 11:53.14.
Junior Sarah Herd and Howell both tied for 11th-place overall in the high jump event with a height of 1.55 meters (5'1"), while in the 800 meter run, junior Cherish Richardson and freshman Katie Spiro finished 10th and 12th, respectively with times of 2:22.03 and 2:23.59, a new personal best time for Spiro.
Spiro also set a new personal best mark in the shot put event with a throw of 10.89 meters (35'8.75"), good enough to place her in 10th overall, while fellow freshman Kyntoya Hansford placed 12th in the shot put with a personal best mark of 10.85 meters (35'7.25").
In the sprint events, freshman Nancy Cates placed 15th in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.32, while in the 200 meter dash T'Keyah Bell (26.62), Katherine Milton (27.10) and Ashley Slate (27.98) placed 13th, 16th and 17th, respectively.
Sophomores Ariel Zimmerman and Ivana Hughes qualified for the finals in their respective events on Friday, as Zimmerman qualified for the finals heat in the 1500 meter run with her fourth-place time of 4:49.05 and Hughes qualified for the finals in the 800 meter run with her sixth-place time of 2:21.10.
On the men's side, the Runnin' Bulldogs fell to sixth-place overall in the team standings after Friday's competition, totaling 27 points heading into the final day of competition on Saturday.
Gardner-Webb's Josiah Stanton-Brooks qualified for the 800 meter finals on Saturday with his second-place time of 1:55.28 in the preliminaries on Friday, while seniors Johnathan Rucker and Evan Brusich both qualified for the 110 meter finals with their respective times of 15.18 and 15.68 in the preliminaries on Friday.
Freshman Johnathan Parks, who placed 12th in the 110 meter hurdles with his time of 16.13, qualified for the finals in the 400 meter hurdles with his eighth-place time of 56.06 in the preliminaries.
In the men's shot put, junior Travis Rogers and freshman Carson Sears finished back-to-back at sixth and seventh-place, as Rogers turned in a personal best mark of 14.97 meters (49'1.50") to finish just ahead of Sears and his personal best record toss of 14.47 meters (47'5.75").
Newcomer Terry Davis earned an eighth-place finish in the men's high jump event with a new personal best height of 1.94 meters (6'4.25"), while Rucker placed in a tie for 11th-place overall with a mark of 1.84 meters (6'0.5").
GWU's Rucker also recorded a 10th-place finish in the 400 meter hurdles with his time of 57.29, edging Brusich who placed 11th with his time of 58.12.
Sprinters Bo Miller and Marquise Joyce placed 12th and 18th, respectively, in the 100 meter dash, as Miller turned in a time of 11.00, while Joyce posted a time of 11.42.
Freshman Galen Keene posted a new personal best time of 51.53 in the 400 meter dash to place 16th overall, while fellow newcomer Trey Crook picked up a 16th-place finish in the 800 meter run with his time of 2:00.52.
In the 3000 meter steeplechase, freshmen Jarrett Willis and Drew Ford each posted personal best times on Friday, as Willis crossed the finish line in 20th-place overall with his time of 10:48.15, finishing just ahead of Ford who placed 21st with his time of 10:52.83.
The third and final day of the 2011 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships is slated to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning at the Virginia Military Institute Track & Field in Lexington, Va.
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| 2011 Big South Outdoor Track & Field Results - Day Two |
