Saturday, March 16, 2002

Athens, Ga. (March 16, 2002) - East Tennessee State University's track and field team began their outdoor season by taking part in the Georgia Relays in Athens, Ga. hosted by the University of Georgia this weekend. The women earned wins in the 400 meters, 3000 meters and the 4x400-meter relay. In the 400 meters, Jennifer Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) took the win by finishing in 56.62 seconds. Teammates Tiffany Collier (Atlanta, Ga.) and Kim Simmons (Knoxville, Tenn.) finished fourth and fifth with Collier running a 58.56 and Simmons running a 58.76 in the 400 meters. In the 3000 meters, Emily Chaney (Maryville, Tenn.) finished in 12:07.67 to win the race. Natasha Peyton (Richmond, Va.) ran the 100-meter dash in 12.16 seconds to finish fifth. In the 1500 meters, Lauren Campbell (Powell, Tenn.) ran a 5:05.88 to take ninth place. The women's 4x400-meter relay team; consisting of Collier (57.90), Peyton (58.10), Simmons (57.00) and Howard (56.85), won with a mark of 3:50.19. The women also earned several top-10s in the field events. Cheryl Howard (Wyalusing, Pa.) finished fourth with a height of 5' 4.25" in the high jump. Simmons took third in the long jump with a distance of 17' 8.25" while Kristin Truman (Johnson City, Tenn.) finished fifth with a distance of 17' 3.5" in the same event. The lone win for the men was David Haefner's (Hamburg, N.Y.) finish of 9:32.05 in the 3000 meters. Freshman Brad Yewer (Newbury, England) took second place in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:57.89. In the 10,000 meters, James Grufferty (Glanmire, Ireland) ran a 32:00.83 to finished third. Clint Davis (Gaffney, S.C.) finished in seventh with a time of 59.22 seconds in the 400-meter low hurdles. The men's 4x400-meter relay team ran a 3:29.03 to finish in fifth place. The men fared well in the field events also. Rhett Ezzell (Chattanooga, Tenn.) jumped 6' 2" to finish fourth in the high jump. In the shot put, Chad Hyder (Kingsport, Tenn.) took fifth place with a throw of 44' 7". Josh Artau (Hatboro, Pa.) finished in ninth place in the javelin throw with a distance of 163' 5". The Buccaneer track and field team continues their outdoor season next weekend at the Clemson Relays in Clemson, S.C. on Saturday, March 23rd.