March 29, 2008

2008 WCU Invitational Complete Results

Cullowhee, N.C. - The Western Carolina Track & Field teams took advantage of their home-field advantage on Saturday, with a combined 23 wins out of the 34 total events in the 2008 Western Carolina Invitational, held at the Catamount Athletic Complex. Despite a delayed start due to a series of thunderstorms that moved through the area, the Cats were able to get on track and keep rolling in the first of three home meets this season.

Reigning Southern Conference Track & Field Co-Athlete of the Week Matt Evans brought home a second-place finish in the men's high jump event, finishing with a top height of 2.05 meters, just off his school-record 2.10 meters from the previous weekend. He was joined in the top five by teammates Rashad Herndon and Chris Gaillard, who finished in third and fourth place, respectively.

Evans then took home his second-straight victory in the javelin, setting a new Catamount Athletic Complex facility record with a distance of 50.03 meters. He broke the record of teammate David Bowles, who set it in 2005, and finished in second place on Saturday with a distance of 54.07 meters.

In the women's 200-meter dash, the Catamounts took charge, sweeping the top five places, with Raquel Ramseur taking the top honors with a time of 24.17 seconds, followed in order by Felicia Paulding, Sherelle Fronberger, Tangelia Johnson, and Carlyn Wright.

The Catamount men followed the women's lead in the 200-meter dash as well, with Zeb Johnson leading the way to victory in a NCAA Regional qualifying time of 21.14 seconds. Manteo Mitchell, who shared SoCon Track & Field Athlete of the Week honors with teammate Evans, finished as the runner-up, also running a qualifying time of 21.24 seconds.

The WCU sweeps continued in the women's 400-meter hurdles, with Catamount runners occupying the top four places. Morgan Joseph was the first place finisher in the event, running a season-best time of 1:05.05, which is also the top mark on the team this year.

Senior Jessika Johnson, who is coming off of a victory in the high jump at the SoCon Indoor Championships, was victorious in her first outing in the event of the outdoor season, jumping a top mark of 1.60 meters, winning a jump-off to take home the win.

It was an All-Western Carolina contingent on the podium of both the men's and women's 800-meter run on Saturday, with WCU taking home seven of the top eight positions between the two events. Seniors Aaron Grant and Kerrie Savery were the top performers in their respective events, with the first victory of the season for both runners. Savery was joined by Megan Isaacs, Jordan Gaddy, and Annie Bailey for the Catamounts, who finished 1-2-3-4 for the women. On the men's side, Drew Tucker was the runner-up, with Stephon Roach coming in fourth place.

Johnson and Mitchell again went one-two in the 100-meter dash, with Johnson's time of 10.67 bringing home the win, and Mitchell's 10.79 mark good enough for his second runner-up finish of the day. Dominique Young rounded out the three Catamounts in the top five with a fourth-place finish.

As was the case with the 200-meters, the WCU women followed suit with their sweep of the top-four in their 100-meter dash event. Tangelia Johnson was the top performer for the Catamounts, running a time of 11.96 seconds, followed by Raquel Ramseur, who tripped the tape a mere .03 seconds later for a 11.99 second mark. Paulding and Fronberger rounded out the top four finishers.

Senior Dylan Hermelee shaved 19 seconds off of his time from last weekend in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and came away with the three-second victory. His time of 9:38.30 was the top mark on the squad in the past two seasons.

The winners' circle of the 1,500-meter run was again full of Catamounts, led by junior Megan Isaacs' top time of 4:48.55 to win the women's event. Stephen Hammond was the fastest time on the men's side, finishing in a time of 4:05.00.

In a continuation of their indoor season dominance, both the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams ran away from the competition on their way to a pair of victories. The women finished a full six-seconds ahead of the second-place team from SoCon rival College of Charleston, completing the four laps around the track in a time of 4:00.02. It was a photo-finish result on the men's side, with the WCU "A" team, consisting of John Oros, Drew Tucker, Duke Craig, and Jestin Jennings using an anchor-leg rally to pass the WCU "B" team of Jeff Reinke, Chris Gaillard, Marcus McClary and Aaron Grant, and win the event with a mark of 3:21.00, just ahead of the "B" team's 3:21.20 mark.

It was the same story in the 4x100-meter relay, as Western was the owner of five of the top six spots on the podium for both the men and women. WCU's women "A" team of Tangelia Johnson, Felicia Paulding, Janet Carothers, and Raquel Ramseur set a new facility record with their time of 45.72 seconds, and Thomas Funderburke, Christian Bethune, Craig, and Kevin Johnson of the "A"  squad crossed the line in 42.39 seconds for their win.

The Cats' successes were not limited to just the track on Saturday, however. In the field events, WCU athletes made their presence felt on the top of the leader boards. Out of the twelve total field events, Western brought home the victory in half of those.

In addition to Jessika Johnson's win in the high jump and Evan's javelin victory, junior Rashanda Simmons was the top performer in the women's long jump, with a total distance of 5.32 meters, Daniel Joseph won the men's triple jump by four feet by jumping 14.20 meters, and senior Chris Page was the victor in the men's hammer throw, tossing the weight a best distance of 48.79 meters.

Western Carolina will head south this upcoming weekend to compete in the Florida Relays, in Gainesville, Fla. The two-day meet will begin on Friday, April 4, and conclude the evening of Saturday, April 5.