Saturday, February 14, 2004

Blacksburg, Va. (Feb. 14, 2004) - In the second day of competition at the Virginia Tech Challenge the East Tennessee State University track and field team carried over momentum from the first day and again saw success. In the men's and women's 60-meter dash finals, sophomore James Rainer (Alcoa, Tenn.) and junior Chantelle Vernon (Markham, Ontario) both finished in fifth place respectively. Rainer finished with a time 6.92 in his race, while Vernon finished with a time of 7.60 in her race. In the women's 800 meters senior Kim Simmons (Knoxville, Tenn.) continues to improve. In her race she placed ninth and recorded a time of 2:16.83. Simmons time currently places her first in the Southern Conference Women's Rankings. Freshman Johnny Tucker (Spartanburg, S.C.) led the Bucs in the 200 meters with his time of 22.45. Distance runner Brad Yewer (Newbury, England) placed fifth in the mile with his time of 4:12.66. Yewer also competed in the 3000 meters placing fourth with a time of 8:26.80. Senior David Haefner (Hamburg, N.Y.), who won the 1000 meters in the first day of competition, competed in the 800 meters in day two and recorded a time of 1:55.56. Up next for the Buccaneers is the Appalachian Open hosted by fellow SoCon member ASU in Boone, N.C. beginning on Feb. 19.