Bucs earn two top-three team finishes at A-Sun Championships

Katie Hirko (left), Nathan Rivera (right)

Saturday, May 17, 2014

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Two conference records highlight a number of notable performances by ETSU

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (May 17, 2014) – The ETSU track & field program built on a successful day one on Friday with equally impressive performances on Saturday to close out action at the 2014 Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the men posted a second-place score of 178.5, while the women recorded 136 points for a third-place finish at Hodges Stadium on the University of North Florida campus.

"I am very pleased with our performances today as we had several big wins, top-three medal performances and numerous personal bests, said ETSU Director of Track & Field George Watts. "It's difficult to pick out any one person or performance with so many great individual efforts."

After posting four total event wins on Friday, the Bucs came out strong again on Saturday with seven total event wins on the day. These two-day totals added up to six victories for the men and five triumphs for the women at the Championships; equaling point totals and placements of 178.5 and second as well as 136 and third, respectively.

Following posting one event win on Friday, the ETSU women bounced back with four event wins on Saturday. Katerina Vodova (Humpolec, Czech Republic) took the top spot in the high jump with a leap of 1.76 meters, while Verena Tobis (Hechingen, Germany) continued the success in the field with an Atlantic Sun Conference record mark of 45.66 meters in the javelin throw. In addition, Lexie Burley (Johnson City, Tenn.) launched to a first-place mark of 12.25 meters in the triple jump, while on the track, Katie Hirko (Oley, Pa.) raced to a personal-best time of 4:30.98 in the 1500 meter run to stand atop the standings. Hirko also placed third in the 5000 meter run with another personal-high 17:01.67 time, while Vodova capped off an impressive weekend of competition by also placing runner-up behind Tobis in the javelin throw with a personal-record toss of 39.79 meters to bring her two-day point total to 34; 5.5 back of the leader.

On the men’s side, the Bucs followed Friday’s three victories with three more on Saturday. Simeon Roberts (Greeneville,Tenn.) continued ETSU’s dominance in the 1500 meter run with a conference and personal-record time of 3:49.60 to take first, with Matt Warriner (Maryville, Tenn.) following in third place with a personal-best 3:51.69 time. The success continued in distance events with the Bucs sweeping the podium in the 800 meter run with Thomas Miller (Lithonia, Ga.) taking the top spot with a time of 1:52.95, while Roberts trailed in second with a 1:54.09 time and Filip Jalovy (Modrice, Czech Republic) rounded out the top three with a matching time. Like he did a day prior, Nathan Rivera (Knoxville, Tenn.) started Saturday on a strong note for the Blue & Gold; maintaining his lead in the men’s decathlon with runner-up finishes in four of Saturday’s five events to bring his first-place point total to 6432 – sixth most in conference history – and approximately 500 points ahead of the second-place competitor.

Other Notables:

Isom – men’s discus – 47.80m – 2^nd place

Lovell – men’s discus – 44.83m – 3^rd place

Edgecombe – women’s 100mH – 13.78 – 2^nd place

M. Williams – men’s 400mH – 52.32 – 2^nd place

Qualifying ETSU student-athletes will return to action in the NCAA East Regional Championships, May 29 – 31, at Hodges Stadium on North Florida’s campus.

"We have several kids that are in the running for berths in the first round of the NCAAs scheduled in two weeks," said Watts. "It will be a great way to culminate another strong year."

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