Bucs crown three individual conference champions on opening day

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 22, 2013) – The ETSU men’s and women’s track & field teams put opening day of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships in the books on Friday at the MSHA Athletics Center, as both teams stand second in the standings and combined to crown three individual champions.

The Buccaneer women have totaled 56 points with six events complete and trail the leader, Jacksonville, by 10. Fourteen points behind ETSU is Kennesaw State (42) in third, followed by Lipscomb (39), North Florida (16), USC Upstate (9) and Northern Kentucky (5).

ETSU’s men have combined for 47 points after the completion of five events, trailing only Kennesaw State which has 63.5 points. Seventeen points behind the Bucs are North Florida (30) in third, followed by USC Upstate (22), Lipscomb (17.5) and Northern Kentucky (12).

“We had a great day to start the Atlantic Sun Championships,” Director of ETSU Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts said. “I’m very pleased. The kids are energized and excited about tomorrow and we’re looking forward to another great day.”

The championships got underway at 8:30 a.m., and Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) got it off to a good start for the ETSU women by becoming the conference champion in the pentathlon. Vodova totaled 3,466 points to win by over 277 points over Kennesaw State’s Shannon Christian, and set a meet record for a pentathlete in high jump of 1.74m. Vodova’s new mark broke the previous mark held by Charlene Charles of 1.72m set in 2011.

The heptathlon got underway in the morning as well with the completion of the first four legs. ETSU sophomore K’Vonte Scott (Virginia Beach, Va.) stands first with 2.912 points and was won every leg competed thus far. Scott’s lead is currently 263 points over KSU’s Joshua Mulder.

Toward the end of the day, the Buccaneers saw a second individual champion crowned on the women’s side as freshman Kristin Chapman (LaFollete, Tenn.) won the high jump. Chapman, JU’s Charlene Charles and KSU’s Michelle Quimby all cleared 1.70m, but Chapman did it on her first attempt to take gold.

The Buccaneers’ final individual champion of the day came from the men’s side, as Tyler Stepp (Dandridge, Tenn.) took first place with a personal best distance of 7.51m in the long jump. Stepp – normally a high jump specialist – outdid Kennesaw State’s Rasmus Rooks for the title with his gold-medal jump coming on his final attempt. The Bucs also earned bronze with Diego Lawrence (Waxhaw, N.C.) marking a personal best of 7.35m.

ETSU added three more medals on the day. On the men’s side, sophomore Chris Winkle (Gray, Tenn.) took bronze in the pole vault by tying his personal best height of 4.60m. Winkle’s other clearance of that height also came at the MSHA Athletics Center earlier in the year at the Niswonger Invitational.

On the women’s side, junior Chelsea Clark (Fairmont, W. Va.) continued her impressive season with a silver medal in the 3000m. Clark legged a time of 9:52.63 to nearly outdo her previous personal best. Also medaling was newcomer Courtney Kinlaw (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) who took bronze in the long jump with a 5.78m leap.

The men’s and women’s 60m dash preliminaries were run on opening day, with ETSU piling up top performances on both sides as well. The men’s highlight was Ifrish Alberg (Paramaribo, Suriname), who broke the A-Sun Indoor Championship meet record by clocking in at 6.69 to qualify No. 1. Three other men also qualified for the eight-man final, as Lawrence was third-fastest, Rashad Campbell (Henderson, N.C.) fourth and Anthony Goins (Dandridge, Tenn.) seventh.

The women qualified three in the 60m dash, led by junior Emani Harrison (Columbia, S.C.) who timed a 7.60 to win her heat. Kinlaw added to her day with qualifying fourth for Saturday’s final, while freshman Keturah Williams (Alpharetta, Ga.) qualified with the seventh-fastest time.

Day two of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships gets underway Saturday at 8:30 a.m., with the final three legs of the men’s heptathlon. The final events are scheduled for 4 p.m., with the awards presentation to follow around 4:30 p.m.

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For more information on ETSU men’s and women’s track & field, please visit www.ETSUBucs.com.