Men unable to leapfrog winner KSU, women improve to finish third

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 11, 2013) – After two days of competition, the ETSU men’s track & field team was unable to pull ahead of leader Kennesaw State, while the women’s squad recovered to finish third overall on the final day of the 2013 Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track & Field Championships inside Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus.

“We competed hard today,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts, “and although we don’t want to settle for anything less than first, I’m proud of both team’s efforts.”

With a pair of top three overall team finishes, the Buccaneers again turned in consistently strong performances at the conference championship meets. Following two winners and eight podium finishes on day one, the Blue and Gold started out strong as well in day two’s action. Early in the day, the Bucs occupied the podium in the women’s triple jump behind a second-place 12.45m leap from Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.), followed by Kelly Monteleone (Pittsburgh, Pa.) with a 12.41m flight to take third.

ETSU got its first win of the day in the men’s 4x100m relay from the quartet of Anthony Goins (Dandridge, Tenn.), Diego Lawrence (Waxhaw, N.C.) Rashad Campbell (Henderson, N.C.) and Ifrish Alberg (Paramaribo, Suriname) which blazed a gold medal winning time of 40.62, the fifth fastest time in the event in A-Sun Track & Field history. The women also got strong showings in the 4x100m relay from the foursome of Courtney Kinlaw (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Keturah Williams (Alpharetta, Ga.) Karissa Bertling (New Port Richey, Fla.) and Emani Harrison (Columbia, S.C.) which took silver with a mark of 45.29, an ETSU school record time in the event.

In the men’s 100m dash, Alberg continued to show why he is one of the best in the event in the region and in Atlantic Sun Conference history by burning a blistering time of 10.29 en route to gold. The speedster’s 10.29 time is an A-Sun Conference record and surpasses his previous personal best and Surinamese national record mark of 10.31 set earlier this outdoor season at the Charlotte 49er Classic. Alberg was followed in today’s event by his teammate Campbell who came in third with a time of 10.52.

Additional individual records were broken as well, including ETSU school records by a pair of Buccaneers. In the women's 400m hurdles, Nicole Alexander (Rock Hill, S.C.) registered a time of 1:01.32, while in the men's triple jump, Jason Johnson (Philadelphia, Pa.) recorded a mark of 15.48m.

After taking second in the women’s discus throw earlier in the day, freshman Verena Tobis (Hechingen, Germany) kept the momentum going later with a top mark in the javelin throw with a toss of 42.37m to earn gold. In the same event, Tobis was backed by teammate Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) who took home silver with a hurl of 38.14m.

In middle-distance action, the Bucs swept the podium in the men’s 1500m, led by Filip Jalovy (Modrice, Czech Republic) in first with a time of 3:58.91, followed by Ryan Jones (Apopka, Fla.) with a mark of 3:59.61 in second and Angus Baldwin (Tumbi Umbi, Australia) rounding out the top three with a run of 4:00.10. Meanwhile, in the field, freshman Kristin Chapman (LaFollette, Tenn.) was able to continue as tops in the conference in the women’s high jump with a soar of 1.72m to earn gold.

The final overall points standings slated the ETSU women third with 151.50 points, while the men finished with 202 total points, 57 back from winner Kennesaw State.

“The men’s team broke 200 points and that was a total team effort,” said Watts. “We scored in all but one event we entered, which shows overall team strength."

“Our women were equally strong, but we lack a little bit of depth and we couldn’t close the gap on second place.”

A number of ETSU student-athletes will move on to compete in the NCAA East Region Preliminaries May 23-25 in Greensboro, N.C. Stay tuned to ETSUBucs.com leading up to regional action in two weeks.

“We will have several people qualified for round one of the NCAA meet,” said Watts, “and we hope to get some qualifiers for the final in Eugene, Ore.”

“The teams have responded quite well to the coaching change this year and I’m grateful for all of the hard work they put forth. I want to wish the seniors all the best as they move on to the next stage of their lives and I look forward to the future.”

Notables:

Men

Ifrish Alberg – 100m – 10.29 (PB) (CR) (NR) – 1^st place, 200m – 21.57 (PB) – 4^th place

Filip Jalovy – 1500m – 3:58.91 – 1^st place, 800m – 1:51.90 – 3^rd place

Goins, Lawrence, Campbell, Alberg – 4x100m relay – 40.62 – 1^st place

Ryan Jones – 1500m – 3:59.61 – 2^nd place

Jason Johnson – triple jump – 15.48m (PB) (SR) – 2^nd place

Angus Baldwin – 1500m – 4:00.10 – 3^rd place

Rashad Campbell – 100m – 10.52 (PB) – 3^rd place, 200m – 21.24 (PB) – 3^rd place

Graham Boone – triple jump – 14.63m (PB) – 3^rd place

Anders Ludvigsen – 5000m – 15:18.64 – 3^rd place

Anthony Goins – 100m – 10.69 (PB) – 5^th place

Evaristo Valls – javelin throw – 49.31m – 5^th place

Trey Johnson – 400mH – 56.59 – 5^th place

Women

Kristin Chapman – high jump – 1.72m – 1^st place

Verena Tobis – javelin throw – 42.37m – 1^st place, discus throw – 45.67m – 2^nd place

Katerina Vodova – javelin throw – 38.14m (PB) – 2^nd place

Lexie Burley – triple jump – 12.45m – 2^nd place

Demeteria Edgecombe – 100mH – 13.72 – 2^nd place

Emani Harrison – 100m – 11.68 (PB) – 2^nd place, 200m – 23.94 (PB) – 4^th place

Kinlaw, Williams, Bertling, Harrison – 4x100m relay – 45.29 (SR) – 2^nd place

Kelly Monteleone – triple jump – 12.41m – 3^rd place

Courtney Kinlaw – 100m – 11.79 (PB) – 3^rd place

Nicole Alexander – 400mH – 1:01.32 (PB) (SR) – 3^rd place, 100mH – 14.26 (PB) – 4^th place

Tyesha Jones – discus throw – 40.77m – 4^th place

ETSU fans wanting to receive Buccaneer news, score updates, in-game promotions and much more sent to their mobile device can do so by signing up for “Buc Updates.” Click here to sign up today!