March 19, 2008

49er Classic Perfomance List

49er Classic Event Schedule

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's and women's track and field teams will be among almost 30 schools competing this weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina for the 49er Classic, which begins on Thursday, March 20 and ends on Saturday, March 22.

Upstate track and field head coach Jimmy Stephens says his team is eager to get back to action after some time off.

"We're ready to get back into competition after spring break last week," Stephens said. "We're going to try some people in some different events and just looking forward to it."

The 49er Classic begins on Thursday at 11 a.m. with the start of the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon. Upstate junior Marc Wartenberger will be competing in the decathlon, which is made of 10 individual events with participants accumulating points in each event. The meet continues on Friday at noon and concludes on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.

Fresh off of her historic performance at the Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Championships, which included winning three events and being named outstanding track performer and freshman performer, freshman distance runner Emily Tangwar will make her outdoor debut when she competes in both the 1500 meters and 3000 meters.

"This meet has some great schools competing in it and we're hoping that (Emily) will have another good weekend," Stephens said.

Also hoping to build off of success this weekend will be the Upstate men's and women's throwers, who enjoyed good performances at the Buccaneer Invitational on March 8.

Wartenberger and senior Thomas Smith finished second and fourth respectively in the men's javelin while freshman Josh Kirby was fifth in the men's discus and freshman James Miles took sixth in the men's shot put. Junior Kayla Speed was ninth in the women's hammer throw as well.

Stephens said that all of the throwers have shown great improvement as the season has progressed.

"We have a really raw, young group of throwers and the development of a thrower takes time, but I look for all of them to continue to improve with each meet," Stephens said.

One other thing Stephens is looking for is better conditions for this weekend in Charlotte after braving cold, windy elements at the Buccaneer Invitational in Charleston.

"(The weather) impeded what level we wanted to perform at, but Charlotte has a great facility and it's supposed to be warmer this weekend," Stephens said.