Lexington,Va. --
The 2005 New Balance Big South Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded earlier on Saturday at the H.M. "Son" Read Memorial Track on the post of the Virginia Military Institute with Liberty University winning the men's championship for a 12th straight year and Coastal Carolina winning the women's championship for the second straight year. Four Big South Conference Championship Meet records were set on the final day, three of which were also conference records. In addition, one other Big South Conference record was set. Furthermore, several Big South Conference awards were presented including the men's and women's Coach-of-the-Year honors. There was a tie for the men's honor with Liberty's Brant Tolsma and VMI's Mike Bozeman sharing the recognition, while head women's coach Alan Connie of Coastal Carolina received the women's coach-of-the-year award.
Men's champion Liberty won with 200 points while Coastal Carolina followed with 158 points. VMI took third place with 116 points while Charleston Southern placed fourth with 111.50 points. Radford took fifth place with 74 point while High Point came in sixth with 68 points. The University of North Carolina Asheville placed seventh with 50 points while Winthrop rounded out the men's field in eighth place with 34.50 points. The women's side saw champion Coastal Carolina tally 285.50 points with Liberty taking second with 230 points. There was a dropoff from there with Charleston Southern taking third place with 75.50 points and Radford following with 67 points. Fifth place went to Winthrop with 48 points while High Point tallied 44 points for sixth place. VMI placed seventh with 40 points with UNC Asheville taking the eighth and final place with 23 points.
Radford senior Maurika Quarles (Manassas, Va.) surpassed her own conference and championship meet records from a year ago in the 400-meter hurdles with a winning time of 58.72 seconds to set the new records. Junior Kena Butts (Voorhees, N.J.) of Liberty also set conference and championship meet records in the high jump with a mark of 5' 10". More records fell when Liberty freshman Josh McDougal (Peru, N.Y.) won the 5,000-meter run at 14:07.75 to establish new conference and championship meet records. McDougal's mark surpassed both records by more than 10 seconds and the records had stood since 1994 by Jeff Greene of Winthrop.
Sophomore Chasity Johnson (North Charleston, S.C./Fort Dorchester) of Coastal Carolina set just a Big South Conference record in the triple jump with a mark of 41' 10". Johnson's teammate, junior Brittany Reid (McKinney, Texas/Rowlett (Coffeyville JC) ) set a new conference championship meet record in the discus with a throw of 154' even to better the old record by only two inches.
The Big South Conference also presented several awards to the student-athletes in a ceremony following the meet. Men's and women's all-academic teams were announced (see list below) while every competitor that recorded a top-three finish in the finals of an event over the three-days qualified to be termed an all-conference performer. The men's and women's Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year awards went to VMI senior Ty Denby (Scottsville, Va./Fluvanna Co.) and Liberty senior Danielle McNaney (Gardner, Kan.) respectively. The conference also awarded its' annual Outstanding Track Performer and Outstanding Field Performer of the meet honors on both the men's and women's sides. Quarles was named the women's Outstanding Track Performer of the meet while Coastal Carolina's Johnson and sophomore Tiffany Evans (Dumfries, Va.) of Radford were named Co-Outstanding Field Performers of the meet for the women. On the men's side, McDougal of Liberty was named the men's Outstanding Track Performer of the meet while VMI junior Garrett Brickner (Fairfax, Va./Lake Braddock) was selected as the men's Outstanding Field Performer of the meet.
In finals of various women's events on Saturday, Charleston Southern junior Audrika Gadson (Wedgefield, S.C./Lakewood HS) won the women's 100-meter dash in 12.23 seconds while Johnson of Coastal Carolina placed second at 12.40. In the final of the women's 200-meter dash, Johnson turned the tables as she took first place at 24.84. High Point had a pair of individual champions as freshman Sumiyya Hunter (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia) won the 800-meter run at 2:15.67 while sophomore Jemissa Hess (Manassas, Va./C.D. Hylton HS) won the 1,500-meter run at 4:41.61. Hess also went on to claim victory in the 5,000-meter run at 17:26.45. McNaney won the 100-meter hurdles at 14.61.
In the women's relay events, Winthrop's quartet of freshman Sabrina Brookins (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake), senior Tomeika Banks (Anderson, S.C./Belton-Honea Path), senior Tabitha Prioleau (Goose Creek, S.C./Stratford), and junior Nicole Tucker (Georgetown, S.C./Carvers Bay) won with a time of 47.07.
In field events for the women, Butts record performance in the high jump was complemented by a pair of Liberty performers. McNaney won the javelin throw at 128' 01" while senior Aimee Riley (Black Mountain, N.C.) won the pole vault at 11' 6-1/4".
In the finals of events for the men on Saturday, VMI sophomore sprinter Paulvince Obuon (Kisumo, Kenya/Chianda) won the 100-meter dash at 10.74 and was followed by Charleston Southern sophomore Nathan Breland (Walterboro, S.C./Walterboro HS) who he also beat out for the title in 2004. Breland came back in the 200-meter dash to win that at 21.26. In the finals of the 800-meter run, Liberty junior Chris Lyons (Virginia Beach, Va.) won at 1:54.93. Liberty fared well throughout the competitions including the field events where senior Dan Royal (Fort Myers, Fla.) won the discus with a mark of 168' even. VMI junior Chris Brandriff (Chesapeake, Va./Western Branch) won the javelin throw with a throw of 199' 03".
2005 Big South Conference All-Academic Teams
Men's All-Academic Team
1. Allan Batiste, So., Charleston Southern University
2. Terah Kipchiris, Sr., Coastal Carolina
3. Mattias Ewender, So., High Point
4. Evan Falat, So., Liberty
5. Brian Richotte, So., Radford
6. Nick Christian, Sr., UNC Asheville,
7. Ty Denby, Sr., Virginia Military Institute
Women's All-Academic Team
1. LaCoya Jones, So., Charleston Southern
2. Chasity Johnson, So., Coastal Carolina
3. Jemissa Hess, So., High Point
4. Danielle McNaney, Sr., Liberty
5. Lauren Diggs, So., Radford
6. LaTonya Harris, Jr., UNC Asheville
7. Gabriela Arraiz, Sr. Virginia Military Institute
8. Sarah Wengryniuk, Sr., Winthrop
*Bold indicates Big South Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year
Lexington,Va. --
The 2005 New Balance Big South Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships concluded earlier on Saturday at the H.M. "Son" Read Memorial Track on the post of the Virginia Military Institute with Liberty University winning the men's championship for a 12th straight year and Coastal Carolina winning the women's championship for the second straight year. Four Big South Conference Championship Meet records were set on the final day, three of which were also conference records. In addition, one other Big South Conference record was set. Furthermore, several Big South Conference awards were presented including the men's and women's Coach-of-the-Year honors. There was a tie for the men's honor with Liberty's Brant Tolsma and VMI's Mike Bozeman sharing the recognition, while head women's coach Alan Connie of Coastal Carolina received the women's coach-of-the-year award.
Men's champion Liberty won with 200 points while Coastal Carolina followed with 158 points. VMI took third place with 116 points while Charleston Southern placed fourth with 111.50 points. Radford took fifth place with 74 point while High Point came in sixth with 68 points. The University of North Carolina Asheville placed seventh with 50 points while Winthrop rounded out the men's field in eighth place with 34.50 points. The women's side saw champion Coastal Carolina tally 285.50 points with Liberty taking second with 230 points. There was a dropoff from there with Charleston Southern taking third place with 75.50 points and Radford following with 67 points. Fifth place went to Winthrop with 48 points while High Point tallied 44 points for sixth place. VMI placed seventh with 40 points with UNC Asheville taking the eighth and final place with 23 points.
Radford senior Maurika Quarles (Manassas, Va.) surpassed her own conference and championship meet records from a year ago in the 400-meter hurdles with a winning time of 58.72 seconds to set the new records. Junior Kena Butts (Voorhees, N.J.) of Liberty also set conference and championship meet records in the high jump with a mark of 5' 10". More records fell when Liberty freshman Josh McDougal (Peru, N.Y.) won the 5,000-meter run at 14:07.75 to establish new conference and championship meet records. McDougal's mark surpassed both records by more than 10 seconds and the records had stood since 1994 by Jeff Greene of Winthrop.
Sophomore Chasity Johnson (North Charleston, S.C./Fort Dorchester) of Coastal Carolina set just a Big South Conference record in the triple jump with a mark of 41' 10". Johnson's teammate, junior Brittany Reid (McKinney, Texas/Rowlett (Coffeyville JC) ) set a new conference championship meet record in the discus with a throw of 154' even to better the old record by only two inches.