Bucs turn in a strong first day in Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Feb. 26, 2016) – The ETSU Track & Field program wrapped up the first day of the 2016 Southern Conference Indoor Championships Friday Birmingham’s CrossPlex. The women sit in third place with 34.50 points, while the men are in fourth place with 23 points.

“I am pleased with the overall effort of both teams on the first day of the SoCon Championships,” said ETSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country George Watts. “We had a couple of things go against us, but the positives far outweighed the negatives.”

Overall both the men’s and women’s teams had a productive day as collectively the Bucs qualified 17 athletes for the finals in their given events Saturday. In total, ETSU took the top spot in seven different events, registered 18 top-five finishes and reached the medal stand in seven other occasions.

The lone outright victory for the Bucs on day one of the conference meet came in the women’s pole vault where Ashley Kessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the event with a vault of 3.75m. With the victory, Kessler becomes a three-time conference indoor pole vault champion. The six other Bucs that took the top spot in their events will compete in the final heats Saturday.

One of those Bucs that will be competing on Saturday will be Nathan Rivera (Knoxville, Tenn.). Rivera leads the men’s heptathlon through four events with 2,877 points. The junior from Knoxville, Tenn., finished with top marks in the 60-meter dash (7.22 seconds) and shot put (11.84 meters). The final three events that Rivera will compete in are the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m run.

“I look forward to seeing how our teams respond to a new day tomorrow,” remarked Watts. “Our women's team needs to continue to grow and mature and our men's team needs to hang tough and respond in a similar fashion as they did today.”    

The final day of the SoCon Indoor Championships will begin at 10:15 a.m. eastern time Saturday. The events will wrap up around 4:35 p.m. with the Women’s 4x400m Final.

Men’s Team Results – Day 1

1. Western Carolina – 58 points
2. Samford – 38
3. VMI – 34
4. ETSU – 23
5. Furman – 20
6. The Citadel – 12
7. Wofford – 9
8. UNCG – 1

Women’s Team Results – Day 1

1. Samford – 86 points
2. Western Carolina – 67
3. ETSU – 34.50
4. Furman – 32
5. VMI – 26.50
6. Chattanooga – 12
7. Wofford – 8
8. UNCG – 5
9. The Citadel – 2

Men’s All-Freshman Team – Day 1

3000-meter run

Liam Brooks, Western Carolina

Nick Horne, ETSU

Women’s All-Freshman Team – Day 1

High jump

Selena Popp, Samford

Rebekah Fox, ETSU

Ashley Parker, Western Carolina

Long jump

Kyra Atkins, ETSU

Brenea Thomas, VMI

Tamilia Wright, Western Carolina

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