Johnson City, Tenn. (February 22, 2002) - The Southern Conference Indoor Championships concluded its first day with the East Tennessee men in first place and the women in fifth. Junior Charvin Clark (Ellenwood, Ga.) won the SoCon long jump title and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Nationals by jumping 25' 0.50" (7.63m). This mark also tied Clark for the 12th best jump in the nation. Competition on the men's side is close with one point separating ETSU with second-place VMI. Kaylin Chesney (Corryton, Tenn.) won his heat race in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.94 seconds, which qualifies him for the finals on Saturday. The men's distance medley relay ran a 10:20.19 to finish third in the conference. The team consisted of James Grufferty (Glanmire, Ireland), Jon Shaw (Roanoke, Va.), David Haefner (Haburg, N. Y.) and Brad Yewer (Newbury, England). Chad Hyder (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Josh Artau (Hatboro, Pa.) also scored points for the Bucs in the shot put. Hyder earned third place with a throw of 48' 2" and Artau threw for 46' 7.25" to finish in sixth place. The women's team had several runners qualify for the finals tomorrow. Jennifer Howard (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the first heat of the 200 meters in 24.94 seconds and the third heat of the 400 meters in 57.26. This puts Howard in the finals for both events. Chantelle Vernon (Markham, Ontario) won the third heat of the 55-meter dash in 7.12 seconds to qualify for the finals on Saturday. Roseline Addo (Newbury, England) and Kim Simmons (Knoxville, Tenn.) both secured spots in the 800-meter finals tomorrow. Addo won the first heat in 2:22.43 and Simmons qualified with a time of 2:19.54. The women's distance relay team ran a 12:20.09 to finish third in the conference. Western Carolina took second from the Bucs by only .01 seconds in the distance medley relay. The women's team consisted of Lauren Campbell (Powell, Tenn.), Howard, Tiffany Collier (Atlanta, Ga.) and Addo. The Bucs also scored some points in the high jump. Cheryl Howard (Wyalusing, Pa.) jumped 5' 3" (1.60m) to take fourth place. The SoCon Indoor Championships track meet begins again Saturday at 9:00 a.m. with the men's 35-lb. weight throw. Presentation of the championship trophies will begin approximately 3:50 p.m. tomorrow. Results from the weekend's events will be posted on www.SoConSports.com.