Feb. 29, 2008

2008 SoCon Indoor Championship Day One Results

Clemson, S.C. - Western Carolina's Indoor Track & Field Teams both stand in the top three after day one of the 2008 Southern Conference Indoor Championships, being held in Clemson, S.C. over the weekend. The men's team currently sits in second place overall, behind rival Appalachian State, with 84 points to ASU's 102.50. The Women are in third place after the first day of scoring, finishing with 37 points. Appalachian State leads the women's competition, followed by Georgia Southern.

The Catamounts combined for four victories on the day, and also added another member to the NCAA Qualifiers with junior Manteo Mitchell's provisional qualifying time ran in the 200-meter dash preliminaries. His time of 21.48 seconds is a mere .02 seconds off the school record, and is the fastest time ran in the SoCon this season. He joins fellow Catamount Zeb Johnson as provisional qualifiers to the NCAA Regional Championships. Johnson qualified in the 55-meter dash at the ASU Opener in December.

Freshman Patrick Morris made a splash in his first SoCon Championship with a win in the men's shot put with a throw of 15.32 meters, besting his previous throw of 15.03 meters, which he threw two weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational. Morris was joined on the podium by sophomore teammate Cale McDaniel, who came in third with a throw of 15.05 meters.

The Catamount high jumpers swept the event with three athletes all jumping 1.95 meters. Junior Daniel Joseph won the event based on fewest misses. Joseph was followed by teammates Rashad Herndon and Matt Evans.

Jessika Johnson, fresh off of a game with the WCU women's basketball team last night, won the women's high jump with a jump of 1.66 meters. This weekend was the first competition of the year for the senior, whose jump was the best height achieved on the team this season. It is Johnson's second SoCon title in the high jump, in addition to her runner-up performance in last season's indoor championships.

The team of Kerrie Savery, Aneesha Lane, Annie Bailey and Megan Isaacs of Western Carolina won the distance medley relay with a time of 12:09.60. The victory came on the heels of the team's school record-breaking performance in their last meet, two weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational.

Day two of the Southern Conference Indoor Championships will continue from Clemson on Saturday, March 1, starting with the men's heptathlon events at 9:00 a.m., and concluding with the finals of the men's 4x400-meter relay at 4:45 p.m. Immediately following the last races will be the awards ceremony for both the men and the women. Stay tuned to CatamountSports.com for updated results and scores from the championships.