Men record 118.5 points, women earn score of 91

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 26, 2015) – The ETSU track & field program wrapped up the 2015 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship Sunday with both the men’s and women’s teams earning third-place team finishes at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

On the men’s side, the Buccaneer men earned a score of 118.5 to finish third behind runner-up Western Carolina (203) and host Samford (244.) The ETSU women also slotted into third overall with 91 points and trailed Samford in second with 183 points and Western Carolina in first with a score of 272.

After having three event wins and qualifying 12 student-athletes for finals action on day one, the Blue & Gold carried the momentum over to Sunday with a pair of event wins and multiple podium finishes.

Senior Dede Edgecombe (Spartanburg, S.C.) built on strong preliminary races yesterday with exceptional performances in event finals. The sprint/hurdler placed runner-up in the women’s 100-meter dash with a personal-best time of 11.89, but did one better in her specialty, the women’s 100-meter hurdles, with a SoCon and new ETSU record 13.35 time to earn gold. Edgecombe was also a member of the women’s 4x100-meter relay team that placed runner-up with a relay of 47.12. These incredible showings led to the senior being named Women’s Most Outstanding Track Performer and shared the honor of Women’s Most Outstanding Athlete with Western Carolina’s Tayla Carter as both tied as the highest point scorers with 25 points on the women’s side.

The successes in hurdle events carried over to the ETSU men with an event win in mid-distance hurdles. Sophomore Mike Williams (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) added to his resume as one of the best in the men’s 400-meter hurdles in the region with a personal-best 52.03 race to earn gold.

Furthermore, an additional number of ETSU student-athletes built on their yesterday showings with stellar performances on the Championship’s final day. Following placing among the top three in three of Saturday’s five decathlon events, sophomore Nathan Rivera (Knoxville, Tenn.) did much of the same today. In Sunday’s decathlon pole vault event, the multi-athlete earned first with a mark of 4.04 meters while also placing in the top three in two other of the day’s five events. In total, Rivera earned a score of 6474 to finish runner up in the decathlon behind VMI’s Quincy Murphy with a 6665 point total. Rivera also placed third in the Championship high jump with a leap of 1.98 meters.

After winning the women's javelin yesterday, junior thrower Verena Tobis (Dusslingen, Germany) went on to place second in the discus Sunday with a toss of 44.62 which at the time was a new conference record. In the men’s 800-meter, junior Thomas Miller (Lithonia, Ga.) placed third with a personal-best 1:51.48 time, while in the men’s 100-meter dash, sophomore Matt Moore (Oak Ridge, Tenn.) raced to a third-place finish with a collegiate-best tying time of 10.70. In addition, Moore teamed with Phillip Booker (Nashville, Tenn.), Anthony Goins (Dandridge, Tenn.), and Patrick Taylor to place third in the men’s 4x1 with a 41.34 relay.

Overall, each top-three finisher at the Championships also earned all-SoCon honors (gold = first team, etc.).

Final Men’s Team Results

1. Samford – 244 points

2. Western Carolina – 203 points

3. ETSU – 118.5 points

4. VMI – 89 points

5. The Citadel – 67.5 points

6. Furman – 47 points

7. Chattanooga – 26.5 points

8. Wofford – 16.5 points

9. UNCG – 5 points

Final Women’s Team Results

1. Western Carolina – 272 points

2. Samford – 183 points

3. ETSU – 91 points

4. Furman – 77 points

5. VMI – 75 points

6. Chattanooga – 49 points

7. The Citadel – 40 points

8. Mercer – 17 points

9. Wofford – 12 points

10. UNCG – 3 points

Women’s Individual Awards

Most Outstanding Athlete

Tayla Carter, Western Carolina

Demeteria Edgecombe, ETSU

Most Outstanding Track Performer

Demeteria Edgecombe, ETSU

Men’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2

Shot Put

Derrick Freeland, The Citadel

Mateius Brown, Western Carolina

Logan Louzander, ETSU

High Jump

Keyth Fightmaster, Samford

Tanner Riddle, ETSU

Austin Billings, Samford 

1,500m Run

Arse’ne Guillorel, Samford

Haydn Borghetti-Metz, ETSU

Bryan Whyms, UNCG  

800m Run

Ashton Wilson, ETSU

Josh Willard, VMI

Bryan Whyms, UNCG

200m Run

Carson Howe, Samford

Henry Kiedy, Western Carolina

Patrick Taylor, ETSU

Women’s All-Freshman Team – Day 2 

Triple Jump

Tiana Pisoni, Samford

Timia Easley, ETSU

Kennedy Smith, SMI

400m Run

Aubree Collins, ETSU

Christina Hill, VMI

Ty Harris, The Citadel

800m Run

Jacquelyn Crow, Furman

Emma Garner, Samford

Hannah Warren, ETSU

400m Hurdles

Sarah Sanford, Samford

Victoria Wicks, Samford

Nicki Smith, ETSU

"We had a very good day at the SoCon Championships as both teams finished a solid third and exceeded most of our expectations," said ETSU Director of Track & Field George Watts. "I'm especially proud of Edgecombe as she was voted the top female track athlete as well as tying as the high-point scorer with 25 points."

Select ETSU student-athletes may be back in action next Saturday, May 2, in the Tennessee Challenge at the University of Tennessee. Stay tuned to ETSUBucs.com for additional information.

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