BOONE, N.C. (Feb. 8, 2007) - A handful of ETSU track and field athletes made the trip to nearby Boone, N.C. to get a quick tune-up before the Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships as they competed in the Appalachian State Limited Open on Thursday evening.
Nae-Nae Bailey (Statesville, N.C.) and Octavia Burgess (Morganton, N.C.) both had a successful outing in the 55-meter dash, finishing in the top 10. The sprinters finished with season-bests as Bailey (9th) crossed the line in 7.26 and Burgess (10th) finished with a mark of 7.26. Also competing on the women's side was freshman Vicki Currie (Dumfries, Scotland) who made her collegiate debut in the mile. Currie finished second with a time of 5:22.44. Fellow freshman Christin Zink (Herndon, Va.) posted a third place finish in the 400-meters, finishing in 1:02.14. The third place finish marked a season-best for the distance runner.
On the men's side, junior Mike Wright (Chattanooga) posted a season-best time of 7.81 in the 55-meter hurdles, and placed fourth overall in the event. The recent addition of Derek Carey (Nassau, Bahamas) competed in the 55-meter dash for the first time this season, and placed sixth overall (6.54). Finishing things out for the men were Tennessee natives Drew Beamer (Johnson City) and David Thomas (Maryville) who both tied for fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 14-05.50 (4.41). The mark set a season-best for Beamer, along with the fifth-place finish.
The ETSU track and field team will be back in action next weekend when they host the A-Sun Indoor Championships inside Memorial Center. The men's team will look to repeat as champions as they took home the first-ever A-Sun title last season.