Eagles in Second at Southern Conference Outdoor Championships
4/27/2008 4:28:00 AM
CULLOWHEE, N.C. ? The Georgia Southern track & field team started the defense of their Southern Conference Outdoor Championship on Saturday, as the Eagles currently sit in second place after an impressive performance on the first day of competition.
Appalachian State leads the women's field with 68 points, while GSU has 35, followed by Western Carolina 31, Chattanooga 30, Davidson 21, Elon 16, The Citadel 14, Furman 11 and the College of Charleston 8.
Sophomore Shaunta Hamilton (Westside) edged Appalachian State's Vonteena Hamilton by one-one thousandth of a meter in the long jump with a distance of 19'03.50. Demetrise Anthony (Manchester, Ga.) placed third with a leap of 19'02.50”.
Jessica Irizarry (Kennesaw, Ga.) finished with a second place finish in the javelin with a throw of 122'04”.
Amber Wilson (Calhoun, Ga.) currently sits in third place after the first day of competition in the heptathlon amassing 2,780 points thus far. She also qualified for the finals with the fastest time in the 100m hurdles 14.42. Teammate Carla Ballard (Morrow, Ga.) earned a spot in the finals of the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:01.50 as did senior Abby Bloom (Snellville, Ga.) racing to a time of 1:06.37. Ballard and Ashley Bush-Hardy (Fayetteville, Ga.) will both race in the 400m finals after earning times of 57.09 and 57.16.
Anthony, Shamyria Ortiz (Newnan, Ga.) and Dominique Thurman (Riverdale, Ga.) will all race in Sunday's 100m dash finals after turning in times of 11.82, 11.96 and 12.08 respectively. Anthony and Ortiz also earned a spot in the finals of the 200m with times of 24.53 and 24.11.
Shauntel Jennings (Stone Mountain, Ga.) continues to rewrite the GSU record books in the 800m as she will race in Sunday's final after a preliminary time of 2:15.28.
Georgia Southern concludes the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships on Sunday in Cullowhee, N.C. For all the latest information at the SoCon Championships, go to: www.soconsports.com.
