March 29, 2008

Weems Baskin Invitational Results

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's and women's track and field teams had dodge the rain during several points of the day, but managed several great performances at the Weems Baskin Invitational hosted by the University of South Carolina Saturday.

"We had a good meet with some good performances today," USC Upstate track and field head coach Jimmy Stephens said. "There was some really good competition in this meet."

Sophomore thrower Stacie Sewell notched her first-career top five finish in the women's shot put, taking fourth place with a throw of 30.83 meters.

"Stacie has been working hard on all of her throwing events and she hasn't really concentrated on one specific event," Stephens said. "She's really coming along and is a hard worker."

Freshman thrower Dee Dee Allen also enjoyed success in the women's javelin finishing eighth with a throw of 30.48 meters.

On the men's side, freshman athlete Perrish Goggins once again came away with three top 10 finishes with a tied for second-place effort in the men's high jump at 1.91 meters, third in the men's triple jump at 13.68 and sixth in the men's long jump at 6.92 meters.

Sophomore distance runner Matt Henderson picked up his highest finishes of the season with two sixth place efforts in the men's 800 meters (2:10.37) and the men's 1500 meters (4:24.28).

Sophomore sprinter Billeto McGee posted a personal record in the men's 100 meter dash and was seventh in the men's 200 meter dash with a time of 22.05. Freshman hurdler DeNeal Cotton was fourth in the men's 400 meter hurdles at 56.98.

"Billeto's work in the fall is paying off for him," Stephens said. "He had a good day of sprinting."

Freshman thrower Josh Kirby was 10th in the men's discus with a throw of 38.31 meters and junior Marc Wartenberger was fifth in the men's javelin with a throw of 36.86 meters.

Stephens continues to be pleased with his team's improvement and looks for of the same in the coming meets.

"We're a really young team and what you want to see is improvement over time," Stephens said. "We've worked really hard to do that."