Hamilton and Anthony Win Individual Conference Titles
4/26/2010 2:21:00 AM
BOONE, N.C. - Senior Shaunta Hamilton (Macon, Ga.) captured the title of the Heptathlon event at the 2010 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Appalachian State this past weekend, April 24-25th. Hamilton added 1679 points to her total, including 715 points for winning the Long Jump event en route to a 4,573 two-day total and first place. Hamilton and senior Demetrise Anthony (Manchester, Ga.), who defended her 2009 championship in the Long Jump Saturday (April 24), were the two top finishers for the Eagles.
Western Carolina won its sixth women's outdoor conference championship, tallying 221.5 points with Appalachian State taking second place (144) and Elon finishing third (123.5). Georgia Southern (83) was nudged out of its fourth-place finish by one point by Samford (84). College of Charleston (66) finished sixth with Chattanooga taking seventh place with 27 points, one point ahead of The Citadel (26). Furman (21) added 17 points to its total on the second day for ninth place while Davidson (19), UNC Greensboro (3) and Wofford (1) rounded out the finishes.
Several of Georgia Southern's freshmen earned honors as members of the SoCon's All-Freshman Team following their performances this weekend. Megan Fannon (Doraville, Ga.) was selected for the Hammer Throw, Ashley Thomas (Lawrenceville, Ga.) for the Shot Put, Jasmine Billings (Lawrenceville, Ga.) for the 100 meter Hurdles and Ebony Carter (Rome, Ga.) for the 100 meter Dash.
After winning the first Heptathlon event of the day, the Long Jump, Hamilton placed sixth in the 800 meter Run with a time of 2:36.66 (612 points) and seventh in the Javelin (352 points). Junior Lynndsey Hyter (Dallas, Texas) finished second overall in the Heptathlon with 4,504 points. Her 2:31.45 time in the 800 meter Run provided 675 points to her total. She placed fourth in the Javelin (389 points) and eighth in the Long Jump (472 points).
Anthony's distance of 19-4.25 (5.90 meters, 0.0) for first place in the Long Jump on Saturday not only allowed her to repeat as champion, but the mark ranks as the league's best for the 2010 outdoor season.
In the finals of the 100 meter Dash, Anthony lowered her preliminary time by .06 seconds, but finished second with a time of 11.89 (-0.4). She reduced her preliminary time in the 200 meter Dash by .11, posting a 24.85 (2.5) for sixth place overall. Carter finished seventh in the 100 meter Dash with her second-best time of the year, 12.44, in the event. JoAnne Benson-Jaja (Savannah, Ga.) had one of her top performances of the 2010 season with a 58.22 time in the 400 meter Dash for seventh place.
Billings shaved .16 seconds off her preliminary time in the 100 meter Hurdles and ran a 14.34 (1.0) finals time for third place. Hyter took seventh place in the event with a 14.79 effort. The Eagle 4X100 Relay team placed third with a time of 46.63, its best performance of the season. The 4X400 Relay team finished fourth, recording a time of 3:55.99 in the final event of the championships.
Senior Laura Fuller (Cartersville, Ga.) secured an eighth-place finish in the 800 meter Run, recording a time of 2:21.85. She ran earlier in the afternoon in the 1,500 meter Run, finishing 16th overall with a time of 4:59.28. Teammate Sara Curry (Lawrenceville, Ga.) finished among the top 25 with a 5:13.98 time.
In the remaining field events on the second day of competition, Hamilton's 39-1.25 distance (11.92 meters, 1.0) in the Triple Jump put her in fifth place overall. Anthony posted a distance of 36-11.75 (11.27 meters, -0.2), competing in this event for the first time this season. In the Shot Put, Thomas' first throw was her best, for 39-6.50 (12.05 meters), to take seventh place at the meet. Sophomore Charnelle Wray (Jamaica, N.Y.) posted a 37-5.00 mark (11.40 meters), her best distance of 2010, for ninth place overall.
Senior Amanda Spivy (Pembroke, Ga.) had one of her top three distances in the Discus, 129-00 (39.32 meters) and placed seventh. Spivy placed eighth in the Hammer Throw Saturday with a distance of 126-6 (38.55 meters). Thomas also competed in the Discus event with sophomore Sarah Herndon (Statesboro, Ga.) as they finished 11th and 12th, respectively. Thomas' best throw of the day was on her last attempt 107-1 (32.65) while Herndon cleared 101-7 (30.96 meters) from the circle.
On the first day of competition, 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.
