Track & Field in Fourth After First Day of Competition
4/25/2010 1:21:00 AM
BOONE, N.C. - Senior Demetrise Anthony (Manchester, Ga.), the defending champion in the Long Jump, won the event again as the Georgia Southern Track & Field team competed at the 2010 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Appalachian State. Anthony's distance of 19-4.25 (5.90 meters, 0.0) not only allowed her to repeat as champion, but the mark ranks as the league's best for the 2010 outdoor season.
The Eagles stand in fourth place with 22 points, just 2.5 points behind Western Carolina (24.5) after the first day of events. Appalachian State is in the lead (43 points) with Elon in second (36.5). After WCU and the Eagles, Samford is in fifth with 20 points College of Charleston sixth with 17 and The Citadel has 13 points for seventh. Davidson (9), Chattanooga (6) and Furman (4) round out the standings.
One of the three Eagles to place in the top eight of the Long Jump, senior Shaunta Hamilton (Macon, Ga.) finished third in event, surpassing 19 feet at 19-2.50 (0.6). Junior Lynndsey Hyter (Dallas, Texas) was eighth with a mark of 18-4.25 (0.7). Sophomore Alex Cassagnol (Augusta, Ga.) placed fifth in the High Jump with a height of 5-3.00 (1.60m).
In the finals of the Hammer Throw, senior Amanda Spivy (Pembroke, Ga.) recorded a distance of 126-06 (38.55m) for a eighth-place finish. Freshman Megan Fannon (Doraville, Ga.) threw a 118-7, her best performance of the season, for 12th place overall.
Hyter and Hamilton are currently first and second in the Heptathlon with each winning one of the four contested events on day one. Hyter won the 200 meter Dash (25.25) with Hamilton placing third in that event (25.85). Hamilton had the top height in the High Jump portion of the competition with Hyter tying for second. Hyter's second-place finish, just .05 seconds behind first in the 100 meter Hurdles (14.62) was just ahead of Hamilton in third (15.20). In the Shot Put, Hamilton threw a distance of 31.-10.25 for third place while Hyter finished fourth with her distance of 30-9.00.
Hyter has 2968 points and Hamilton 2894 points as the two Eagles lead the other competitors. Three events remain to determine the conference champion: the 800 meter Run, Javelin and Long Jump.
Anthony will compete on Sunday in the finals of the 100 (11.95, 0.2) and 200 (24.96, 0.2) meter Dash events after placing second and eighth, respectively, in the preliminary races. Joining her in the 100 meter Dash will be freshman Ebony Carter (Rome, Ga.) who finished seventh in the preliminary race with a time of 12.30 (1.0).
Senior JoAnn Benson-Jaja (Savannah, Ga.) captured sixth place in the preliminary of the 400 meter Dash with her season-best time of 57.46. Benson-Jaja will race in that event final on Sunday. Laura Fuller (Cartersville, Ga.), who took almost two full seconds off her previous season-best time, will compete in the finals of the 800 meter Run after her 2:17.66 time earned her an eighth-place finish in the preliminaries.
Jasmine Billings (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Hyter will represent Georgia Southern in the 100 meter Hurdles. Billings ran a 14.50 (-2.0) for the third-best time in the preliminaries while Hyter ran a 14.88 (-2.0), third in her heat and seventh overall in the preliminaries.
Senior Courtney Ware narrowly missed the finals of the 400 meter Hurdles, just .15 seconds out of qualifying with her season-best time of 1:05.67. Hyter, Carter and Benson-Jaja all competed in the preliminaries of the 200 meter Dash. Hamilton tied for 12th place in the 100 meter Hurdles with a time of 15.44 (-2.0).
In the only long distance event of the day, sophomore Brittani Martin (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Heather McAllister (Cartersville, Ga.) competed for Georgia Southern in the 10,000 meter Run. Martin posted a time of 41:08.65 while McAllister ran a 43.26.77.
The championships continue Sunday with Hyter and Hamilton competing in the Heptathlon events beginning at 8 a.m. The reminder of the women's events begin at 12:30 p.m. A full schedule is available here.
