Friday, April 03, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (April 3, 2009) - The ETSU track and field team kicked off the first day of the Florida Relays on a positive note, as four Buccaneer athletes set season bests in their respective events inside James G. Pressly Stadium.

Five Buccaneer track and field athletes began competition at one of the nation's most premier track meets on the Percy Beard Track, and each ETSU competitor came away with solid results on the first weekend of April.

In the men's 100m, junior Duronal Monal (Belle Glade, Fla.) and freshman Quentin Greenlee (Morristown, Tenn.) had strong performances. Monal enjoyed his homecoming by finishing 18^th with a season best time of 10.66. Meanwhile, Greenlee posted a personal best mark of 10.75, which placed him 25^th overall. The Buccaneer duo also took over the top spots in the conference with these impressive results.

"Both Duronal and Quentin ran really solid today and I am pleased with their performances," said associate head track and field coach Michelle Byrne. "They ran against some tough competition and handled themselves very well." 

On the women's side, senior sprinter Judy Johnson (Knoxville, Tenn.) propelled her way from eighth to third on the A-Sun performance chart with her effort in the 100m. Johnson, who ran a 12.51 in her season debut at the Milligan Relays, bettered that time - finishing with a time of 12.21 on Friday.

Senior transfer Heidi Dahl (Orem, Utah) competed in the 800m and went head-to-head with in-state rivals Phoebe Wright and Chanelle Price, both from Tennessee. Dahl got the better of one Lady Vol runner, Price, but couldn't move her way past Wright for the crown. The Orem, Utah native finished second with a regional qualifying time of 2:06.90.

"The start of the 800 was really physical and Heidi got into trouble early on in the race," commented Byrne. "Heidi got boxed in from the start and by the time she got free, the Tennessee runners had a huge jump on her. She finished strong in the end, but it was a disappointment as her goal from the start was to win the race." 

Senior jumper Josh Cloyd (Telford, Tenn.) was the last Buccaneer athlete to see action on Friday, as he closed out the day competing in the long jump. Like his teammates did in the sprints, Cloyd followed suit with a season best mark in the field event. The Telford, Tenn. native finished third in his flight and fifth overall with a leap of 23-00.00 (7.01m) - which was better than his first effort of the season when he posted a mark of 22-09.50 (6.95m) at the Milligan Relays.

The Bucs return to action on Saturday when cousins Kenneth Rotich (Nairobi, Kenya) and Ben Ronoh (Sotik, Kenya) compete in the 5000m run at 4:55 p.m.

For more information on Buccaneer track and field, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.