Saturday, April 20, 2002

Johnson City, Tenn. (April 20, 2002) - East Tennessee State's track teams completed competition today in the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships held at Liberty Bell Track in Johnson City. Both squads came away with fifth place finishes, with the men scoring 63 points while the women's team piled up a score of 79. During today's action the Bucs came away with eight all-conference performances, giving them a total of 14 for the meet. Both of the ETSU's conference championships today came on the women's side, with Jennifer Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) leading a 1-2 Buccaneer sweep in the 400 meters, with ETSU coming away with three of the top-five places in the event. Howard cruised home with the win in a time of 55.01, followed by teammate Kim Simmons (Knoxville, Tenn.) who came home in a time of 55.94. Finishing fifth for the Bucs was Tiffany Collier (Atlanta, Ga.) with an effort of 57.76. Also taking home a first place for ETSU was the women's 4x400-meter relay team of Howard, Simmons, Collier and Natasha Peyton (Chesterfield, Va.) who easily outdistanced the field, winning by almost 2.5 seconds over second place Appalachian State in a time of 3:48.17. The time was also a new Southern Conference championship record, bettering the old time of 3:49.59 set by Western Carolina in 1994. Also earning all-conference accolades today for the women's team were Cheryl Howard (Wyalusing, Pa.) who came in second in the high jump with a leap of 5-06.00 and Lauren Campbell (Powell, Tenn.) who was third in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:45.93. The women's squad also scored points in a number of other events. In the 200-meter dash, Jennifer Howard claimed fourth in a time of 25.15, while in the 5,000 meters, Emily Chaney (Maryville, Tenn.) posted a seventh place finish in 19:18.38. The 4x100-meter relay team took fourth with a time of 48.07, while in the field events, Kristin Truman (Johnson City, Tenn.) finished fourth in the javelin with a toss of 101-08.00. On the men's side, a pair of distance runners claimed all-conference honors. In the men's 1,500 meters Brad Yewer (Newbury, England) was third with an effort of 3:56.58, while in the 5,000 meters James Grufferty (Glanmire, Ireland) also had a third place effort, finishing in 15:14.72. In the field events Josh Artau (Hatboro, Pa.) was third with a heave of 180-01.00. Also scoring points today for the men's team were ETSU's relay teams. The 4x100-meter relay team of Nick Andrews (Atlanta, Ga.), David Cabler (Roanoke, Va.), Charvin Clark (Ellenwood, Ga.) and Kaylin Chesney (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished fourth with an effort of 42.90. Clint Davis (Gaffney, S.C.) joined Andrews, Cabler and Chesney on the 4x400-meter relay team, which came up with a sixth place finish in a time of 3:26.66.

Team Scores
Men				Women
1. Appalachian State	 224	1. Appalachian State	216
2. Western Carolina	 188	2. Western Carolina	201.5
3. VMI	                 112.5	3. Georgia Southern	122
4. The Citadel	          83.5	4. Chattanooga	        100.5
5. East Tennessee State	  63	5. East Tennessee State	 79
6. Chattanooga	          61	6. Furman	         35
7. Davidson	          31	7. UNC Greensboro	 23
8. Furman	          27	8. The Citadel	         18
9. Wofford	          16	9. VMI	                 17
		               10. Davidson	          4