Welcome to CSU's Bagwell-Settle track for day one of the 2010 Big South Track and Field Championships! We're high above the facility in the press area, settled for the first day of competition. All relevant links are above, and always, please feel free to take advantage of those. Also, as always, please feel free to email saloisbj@vmi.edu with any questions, comments or general thoughts. Finally, note that videos, taken by yours truly, are available throughout the meet here.
SCORING -
Men's (Four Events Completed) -
Liberty - 45
High Point - 31
Coastal Carolina - 22
Radford - 19
Charleston Southern - 12
VMI - 9
Winthrop - 8
GWU - 5
UNCA - 5
Women's (Four Events Completed) -
Coastal Carolina - 43
Liberty - 41
CSU - 16
Radford - 15
Winthrop - 13
Gardner-Webb - 12
High Point - 10
UNCA - 5
VMI - 1
Decathlon Standings After Day One:
1) Geren Woodbridge (LU) - 3490
2) Dominique Riggins (CSU) - 3474
3) Antonio Wood (VMI) - 3447
4) Michael Munson (VMI) - 3318
5) Evan Brusich (GWU) - 3307
Hepathlon Standings After Day One:
1) Patria Norman (CSU) - 3136
2) Amami Antia-Obong (WU) - 2951
3) Christinia Mitchell (LU) - 2922
4) Krystle Matthews (LU) - 2880
5) Channell Futrell (CSU) - 2649
6) Zipporah McCann (VMI) - 2520
7:06 p.m. - That'll do it from the Big South Championships blog, day one. Scores will be updated in just a moment, and the first event tomorrow will begin at 11 a.m.
6:59 p.m. - Schubel crosses the line and immediately collapses to the ground...She's being helped off by CSU sports medicine staff and is kneeling on the ground in exhaustion. What heart to finish...That is the type of mentality that exemplifies a VMI athlete.
Long jump results show Liberty dominating, as expected, but Green finishing fifth (6.99 M/22'11 1/4") with what I believe is the second-best jump of his career. Titcombe's 6.96 jump that you saw video of earlier? That was good for sixth.
6:55 p.m. - Osborne of LU wins (unofficial of course), Carty takes eighth at the bell for her...And she'll hold on for 39:16.65 and eighth place. An absolutely sensational run for the freshman, who paced herself brilliantly and, because of that, had enough at the end to move into scoring position.
6:49 p.m. - Osborne throws out a huge surge with four to go and moves well in front. If she's got enough left, it's over. Carty holds ninth with three laps to go. It'll be three to go for Carty when she gets to the line, and she'll split 34:48, six seconds back of eighth. Schubel is aways back and appears to be out of gas, but she is fighting through it and it appears she will finish.
6:44 p.m. - Leaders split 27:46, same four in front...Carty now 10th, but several runners in front of her look gassed. Six laps to go...We do have long jump results, and the Keydets finished fifth and sixth. Good results considering Liberty's domination.
6:42 p.m. - Carty maintains ninth and will split 25:12 with nine to go...Two runners have collapsed and one has been carted off on a stretcher. I didn't see what happened but yes, it is warm here. So warm, in fact, that water stations and a misting device have been placed around the track.
6:40 p.m. - Carty moving up with 11 laps to go...Several runners noticeably slowing. If Carty scores in this, it's a brillantly run race.
6:38 p.m. - At the 4,800-meter mark, Crotts drops back to fourth but maintains touch with the front pack. Schubel drops back and is slowing, Carty is running the exact same pace she did at the start.
6:31 p.m. - Back to the 10K, where at the 4K mark, Winthrop's Carey Phillips, Radford's Lori Crotts, LU's Osborne and High Point's Emily Webb are your top four. 15:16 is the split for Phillips. Schubel and Carty are in a pack of several runners about 30 seconds back, splitting in about 15:45.
6:28 p.m. - Lawson's throw in the hammer was a 50.66 M (166'2") toss for seventh. Scores are reflected above.
6:25 p.m. - Crotts and Curtin's split at the 2,000-meter mark is 7:39, Schubel and Carty about 10 seconds back. Just learned Chad Lawson was seventh in the hammer, marking VMI's first points of the meet.
At 2,400 in the 10K, it remains the same five in front with about the same pace...This is a slow race, which favors Carty's deliberate, thought-out pace.
6:21 p.m. - 1,200 split for the five leaders, who have a little separation, is 4:37...Schubel in 4:40 and Carty in 4:41, still roughly the same (hovering around 10th).
1,600 remains Curtis, Cross, Osborne of LU and two others in front...Schubel in a group for 8th, Carty runs 11th after four laps.
6:17 p.m. - Underway in the 10K...Schubel and Carty start in the middle of the pack, with Lori Crotts of Radford leading after one lap.
Schubel runs ninth and Carty runs 12th after two laps. Now Joyce Curtin of Coastal in front.
6:13 p.m. - Long jump looks to have just ended...Coaches are breaking down the gear downstairs (I'll be having dinner with the distance runners tonight)...Women's 10K is just about to start.
6:10 p.m. - Green with a 6.38 jump...LJ still running.
6:07 p.m. - Women's 10K about to start...I'm going to do the best I can to follow Leah Schubel and Lindsey Carty throughout...Ashley Osborne of Liberty is favored, but it's possible both Keydets could make the top 10 or 12.
6:03 p.m. - 10K now over, Cherry wins in meet record time. The men's hammer looks to have wrapped up, but the long jump is very much still going on. I just saw one of Dada Titcombe's jumps, it was a 6.88 meter try. Not quite up to what he did in prelims.
5:54 p.m. - Five laps to go and Cherry has distance now, pulling away.
5:47 p.m. - Men's hammer still going on as well...The 10K remains Cherry, Cole Atkins (HPU) and Josh Edmonds of Liberty with a split of 18:17 at the 6,000-meter mark.
5:40 p.m. - Plenty to report here...All three Keydets - Green, Gant and Titcombe - made the long jump finals...This is a big event for VMI.
Just a reminder about the updates we've had via Twitter...Those are done from my phone, and when I put the marks in metric, I'm just going off what's called out (collegiate T&F always uses metric). Coaches can convert most of the marks in their head, but I can't do that yet. Maybe after I've been involved with the sport for 10-20 years :-).
The men's 10K is underway...Using updates my colleague, Paul Carmany of Liberty, wrote while I was putting up those photos, I'm able to determine that High Point's Jesse Cherry, ranked #6 nationally, has led from the gun. He now leads a pack of five with a split of 13:26 at the 4,400-meter mark, and no one else is in sight of those lead five. Again, no Keydets in this event, but it's interesting and I can see it from the press box :-), which I don't want to leave because Schubel and Carty are going to run the women's 10K once this is done.
5:27 p.m. - Videos now up at the link above...Working on pictures now, as the men's 10K is about to start. Keydets don't have any entrants, but they do have a couple in the women's version...That couple does not include Hannah Granger, who will not compete in the race.
5:18 p.m. - Second flight of long jump well underway...Hopefully videos will be up shortly at the video link...
5:12 p.m. - Plenty to report as we return to the press box...Dada Titcombe's final jump was a 6.96 meter leap, which should get him to finals. Nate Gant will be close (he was about 6.4 meters), but with the depth of this field, may not advance. Second flight should get underway very soon.
Decathlon is done for the day...Antonio Wood ran a 51.76 in the 400, and currently sits third (see standings above). Michael Munson is fourth. Scores will be posted above shortly.
Women's long jump results are in (still not sure what's up with a live results link) - Patria Norman of CSU (yes, the heptathlon leader) wins with a 5.75 meter jump (18'10 1/2"). The competition featured a 3/4 inch difference from third to fourth, a 1/2 inch difference from fifth to sixth and two ties (8th and 11th).
Z. McCann was 15th for the Keydets, but talking to Coach Garrett Brickner before the long jump, that fired her up and she posted a strong shot put (in the multis) because of it. Anyway, scores are reflected above.
Hopefully we'll have some new videos and pictures here before too long, I took quite a few while I was down at field level.
4:34 p.m. - Decathlon 400 about to start, as is the first flight of long jump...A. Titcombe is in the first flight...Back to Twitter.
4:19 p.m. - I'm going to go down to the field, try to shoot some pics/video and decipher what is going on with some of these events...But not before I let you know that Antonio Wood had closed to within 51 points of leader Geren Woodbridge (LU). Michael Munson is fourth.
Wood's best events are passed, and Woodbridge's are very much yet to come, but anything can happen. We'll see. Any relevant updates for the next little while will be posted on Twitter.
4:16 p.m. - Results from the women's hammer...Aimee Veatch of RU wins her second straight title at this meet (58.07 M, 190'6"). Melinda Bendik (LU) and Brittany Connor (CCU) tie for second, with Bendik taking second because of how long her second throw was. Again, Aquisi Harris 12th and Kelsey McCusker 13th. Still no word from the women's long jump.
4:09 p.m. - As you can see above, we have the updated heptathlon standings after day one.
4:04 p.m. - Wood's final mark a 1.96 as he fails to clear at 1.99. Great effort though for the freshman, and he is going to improve on his overall standing.
We also can see the results from the hammer...Aquisi Harris finishes 12th (38.17 M, 125'3"), not what she would have wanted...Kelsey McCusker was 13th with a 121'9 (37.12 M)...We'll hopefully see those full results shortly.
3:59 p.m. - This is impressive...Wood clears at 1.96 and is now up to 1.99.
3:58 p.m. - Wood down to his final jump at 1.96...Second jump was a lot closer...
3:55 p.m. - Wood over at 1.93...
3:54 p.m. - Wood over at 1.90...
3:48 p.m. - Wood goes over at 1.84 meters easily...Very impressive. Looks like the women's hammer and women's long jump could be drawing to a close.
3:41 p.m. - McCann lost about 80 points to 5th in that race...Now approximately 100 points back of that spot, still sitting in 6th. Norman of CSU with a big lead after the first day of the hep. Hopefully we will get final standings soon...Again, we're doing the best we can. Not sure what issues CFPI is facing today.
3:35 p.m. - McCann goes 27.39, fifth in her heat of the 200. Second heat about to go off in a moment, but again, in the heptathlon, you're more competing against the clock and yourself than those around you.
3:27 p.m. - Munson just missed at 1.78 M (5'10")...Not sure what number attempt that was, and don't want to speculate.
Ahead on the schedule -
Heptathlon 200-meters: Zipporah McCann will look to take over fifth in the overall standings.
Men's hammer: Starting at 4:30, this could be an intriguing event. Chad Lawson and Cody Davis are both involved, along with James Handler.
Munson hit at 1.78 on his second try...High jump is still in full swing. Haven't seen Antonio Wood, who is usually recognized as a strong high jumper.
3:17 p.m. - Heptathlon results are now up on the small board, and Zipporah McCann picked up 15 points to close a little on fifth place. Looks like everything stayed virtually the same. Decathlon high jump is still going on, and it is very difficult to follow...Strange pacing. Women's long jump is taking place outside of my view, while the women's hammer is still going on on the far end. I've tried to pick up a few things from there, but haven't been able to.
2:59 p.m. - After quite a few delays, we finally have those pictures I promised...Check out the photo album to see them.
2:33 p.m. - Wood threw the shot 10.45 M (34'3 1/2"), Munson had a personal best 9.62 M toss (31'6 3/4") while Garcia posted a 8.95 M (29'4 1/2") throw. Wood is 160 points off the lead, while Munson is just 38 points behind his teammate.
2:31 p.m. - We have updated decathlon results on the small display board...Antonio Wood currently sits third (1945), with Michael Munson 5th (1907) and Richard Garcia (1732) 9th...Shot put results pending...
2:19 p.m. - We still don't have any live scoring...Not sure what's going on there, but we're here to help you out. Updated results from the hepathlon show that Zipporah McCann cleared 1.50 meters (4'11") in the high jump portion, and is currently sixth overall, 68 points out of fifth. The ladies move to shot put, while the decathlon trades places with them and goes to the high jump.
2:06 p.m. - Keydets go 9th (Hackemeyer, 36.12, 118'6"), 10th (Feole, 35.31, 115'10"), 11th (Harrison, 31.48, 103'3") and 13th (Lamneck, 30.52, 100'1") in the women's javelin...The ladies have got to be disappointed. Hackemeyer just missed eighth.
1:59 p.m. - Made some changes because of technical issues we were having...All video files will be moved to here. Don't worry, I'll post a link to them here as well. In addition, I deleted the links from the ones we had up.
Hepathlon high jump competitors are dwindling...Looks like McCann is out...Decathlon shot is currently going on.
1:34 p.m. - We're back in the press box with plenty to report...First off, if you missed it, we had coverage on Twitter of the women's javelin. Hope Hackemeyer made finals and, by my calculation, should be 7th or 8th. That's unofficial though. Go to the Twitter page to see exact updates on that.
We have results from the decathlon long jump...Michael Munson jumped 6.35 M to place himself second overall, while Antonio Wood had a 6.13 meter jump and is currently fourth. Richard Garcia recorded a 6.08 meter jump and is seventh, but appeared to injure himself on his final attempt. Unsure of his status.
The heptathlon high jump is going on right now...Z. McCann just missed at 1.53 meters. Decathlon shot put is just about to get underway, with warmups for the women's hammer (featuring Aquisi Harris) also starting just a moment ago.
Look for a video of Hackemeyer's first throw of javelin finals, along with quite a few pictures, here in just a few moments. I will also post when we have updated team scores. Once again, we're back with you here in the press box...Oh, and as a final note, Jersey Mike's here in Charleston was EXCELLENT. Highly recommended for lunch.
12:41 p.m. - Okay, it's that time...Any updates for the next little while will be on the VMI SID twitter page.
12:28 p.m. - All right, a quick update before we start thinking about lunch here at the BSC's...We're kind of flying blind, as the live results link is not yet working. We have to wait for the board to update, and it just did as I was typing this. Wood was 2nd in the 100, coming in at 11.20, while Mike Munson was sixth with an 11.37 clocking. Richard Garcia was eighth (11.73)...
Just underway is the women's javelin, with Kate Lamneck the only Keydet competitor in flight one. Feole, Hackemeyer and Harrison are all in flight two, and I will probably walk over there and try to cover it. As promised, I will post before going over there so any readers know to open the Twitter site.
At 12:35, we'll have the heptathlon high jump, with the decathlon long jump to follow 20 minutes later.
12:23 p.m. - Impressive effort from Antonio Wood, who was in a too-close-to-call finish in his heat...Results to come. McCann was sixth in the 110 hurdles.
12:13 p.m. - On that video (see download linked above), McCann's in lane 5 and finishes second...When she comes by the press box, you can tell who it is, but for the earlier and later portions, those facts should help. Our next event is the decathlon 100, which starts in about five minutes.
12:11 p.m. - Zipporah with a 15.44 time...I have a movie of it that I hope to post shortly.
12:02 p.m. - McCann was second in her flight, won by a competitor from CSU in 14.30.
11:58 a.m. - Winthrop's Obong wins flight 1 in 14.17 seconds. McCann to be in the second flight for the Keydets...
11:55 a.m. - You see the updated scores reflected above, as we close in on the start of the multis. Top finishers for VMI in the men's javelin - Brown 11th (49.26 M/161'7"), McCarthy 12th (45.75 M/150'1").
11:25 a.m. - No Keydets made the javelin finals, which are now wrapping up...More information when it becomes available. Our next event is the 100-meter hurdles of the heptathlon, which goes off at noon. Just posted a picture of Zipporah McCann getting loose.
11:04 a.m. - It appears five throwers are over the 60-meter mark..Just about ready to go to the finals. Cutoff was 55.18, which I don't believe any Keydets reached. Next event is the 100-meter hurdles in the heptathlon, which includes VMI's Zipporah McCann.
10:42 a.m. - Pictures are up, and the gallery should be linked above...I'll try to update that throughout the day. We're now on to the second flight of the javelin, with marks up in the 60-meter range...Will be tough for the Keydets to score here, but this was not a crucial event.
10:16 a.m. - I went over to see a couple of throws...Justin McCarthy fouled on his first try, while Tyler Brown threw a 49.18 on his second attempt. McCarthy had a 43-meter try on his second...Each now has one throw left. Unfortunately, they've turned the performance board away from the press box, so we'll have to wait a few minutes to see what happened. I'll try to post some pictures from the javelin here in a few minutes, and will update here when that's done.
9:48 a.m. - As Jordin Sparks' "Battlefield" filters over the stadium speakers, let's break down the real battlefield of this meet...Second place on the men's side. Realistically, Liberty is the overwhelming favorite to win, but five teams could break 100 points. Coastal Carolina, who was the last non-LU team to win a men's Big South title ('06), is always a threat in pretty much everything. Radford is strong, but not quite as deep as Coastal...And then there're our hosts. They are so good in the sprints that that strength alone could give them 110 points and second place. The Keydets are the enigma here, but two events could help decide their fate. Watch the steeplechase (Friday, 7:15) and the 1,500-meter run (finals are 12:20 on Saturday). Those two events are HUGE.
I think I'm going to go try to watch some rounds of the javelin, but I may not tweet. I'm also trying to get photos of this meet, and make it an all-encompassing multimedia experience. Regardless, follow the Twitter feed whenever called for here.
9:24 a.m. - The first load of Keydets is here, as Asst. Coach Zack Scott, trainer Leah Sisson, throwers Richard Garcia, Tyler Brown and Justin McCarthy are all here, along with (obviously) myself.
Let's open our blog with a glance at the facility...We're high above, as I said, but there is a small fieldhouse (large shed) along with three groupings of stands on the other side of the track. We'll be able to see the high jump, as it is directly to our right, but the triple/long jumps, the pole vault and the javelin are all obscured. The hammer and shot are visible, but we may not be able to see the marks. How will we address these key events being blocked? Well, I may have to get creative. Depending on timing with other events, weather and such, I may utilize the VMI twitter feed (@vmisid) and go over to report on those via that method. We'll have to see, but no matter what, this is your home base for all our coverage. I will post notification here if I'm switching over to Twitter at any point.
Warm-ups have begun for the javelin.
