Thursday, April 17
Rock Hill, S.C.
2:00 PM
Liberty University
at
New Balance Big South Outdoor Track Championships
LU Men 1st, Women 3rd at BSC Outdoor Track
4/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Big South Day 1 Blog
The Liberty men's team leads and the women's team sits in third place after Thursday's opening-day action at the 2008 New Balance Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Flames and Lady Flames posted six all-conference performances at Winthrop's Irwin Belk Track, highlighted by Jon Hart's victory in the men's hammer.
The Liberty men's team totaled 39 points through three events, putting the defending champion Flames 10 points ahead of second-place Coastal Carolina. On the women's side, the Lady Flames tallied 22 markers. Coastal Carolina leads with 34 points, while Charleston Southern sits in second with 25.
Hart (Wyomissing, Pa.) repeated as Big South hammer champion, when his best throw stretched the tape to 217-2. He eclipsed his own meet record and broke the facility standard as well. Hart now ranks No. 9 nationally in the hammer throw, after winning the event by more than 17 feet over runner-up Timothy Morse of Radford.
Liberty junior Matt Parker (Rome, N.Y.) added a second place in the men's long jump. The reigning Big South long jump champion indoors, Parker produced a season-best 22-10.5 leap into a headwind. The event winner was freshman Keith Graham of Coastal Carolina, who landed at 23-5.25.
Josh Edmonds (So., Cooperstown, N.Y.) led the first 22 laps of the night's final event, the men's 10,000 meters, before hanging on for a runner-up finish. His official time was a personal best and IC4A-qualifying time of 30:52.25. High Point's Tamas Kovacs made a late move to claim first place in 30:44.32. Liberty sophomore Jake Reed (Marysville, Ohio) also qualified for the IC4A meet with a career-best 31:05.48 clocking.
For the Liberty women, Charlene Hibbert (Sr., Mississauga, Ontario) replicated her runner-up finish from the 2008 Big South indoor long jump. She leaped a season-best 18-8 to fall just one inch shy of event champion Shemelia Brandon of Radford.
Liberty took both second and third place in the women's 10,000 meters, courtesy of Carol Jefferson (Sr., Schwenksville, Pa.) and Dacia Bushman (Fr., Castalia, Iowa). Jefferson, the two-time defending meet champion and conference record holder, led the entire race until the bell lap. With 350 meters left, Coastal Carolina's Diana Jepchirchir ran past Jefferson to claim the title in a facility-record time of 35:24.54. Jefferson's late surge fell short, leaving her second in a season-best and ECAC-qualifying time of 35:25.64. Bushman ran an evenly-paced race, pulling away from Winthrop's Carey Phillips for third during the final two laps. The Liberty freshman's ECAC qualifier of 36:56.37 makes her the No. 2 Liberty 10K runner of all-time.
Flames junior Daniel Newell (Roanoke, Va.), seeking his first career Big South title, is halfway there in the decathlon. He won the first four events of the day and owns a 392-point lead over Coastal Carolina's Jack Hutchison. Newell, whose afternoon was highlighted by a 6-4.75 high jump, is on a personal-best pace. His first-day point total was 3,754, putting Brandon Hoskins' (Sr., Garden City, Texas) meet record of 6,886 in jeopardy on Friday. Matt Tarr (Jr., Madison Township, Pa.) sits in fourth place with a score of 3,013, just 69 tallies out of third.
Liberty freshmen heptathletes Krystle Matthews (Chesapeake, Va.) and Jennifer Healey (Virginia Beach, Va.) are in second and third place, respectively, through Thursday's four disciplines. Matthews, the Big South indoor pentathlon champion, got off to a strong start with a personal-best 15.55 in the 100-meter hurdles. Her point total of 2,479 leaves her 179 points behind Coastal Carolina's Elisha Tegeder, the day one leader. Meanwhile, Healey totaled 2,348 points.
Day two action will begin at 11:30 a.m. Friday morning. The multi events will start simultaneously, with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles and the heptathlon long jump.
The Liberty men's team leads and the women's team sits in third place after Thursday's opening-day action at the 2008 New Balance Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Flames and Lady Flames posted six all-conference performances at Winthrop's Irwin Belk Track, highlighted by Jon Hart's victory in the men's hammer.
The Liberty men's team totaled 39 points through three events, putting the defending champion Flames 10 points ahead of second-place Coastal Carolina. On the women's side, the Lady Flames tallied 22 markers. Coastal Carolina leads with 34 points, while Charleston Southern sits in second with 25.
Hart (Wyomissing, Pa.) repeated as Big South hammer champion, when his best throw stretched the tape to 217-2. He eclipsed his own meet record and broke the facility standard as well. Hart now ranks No. 9 nationally in the hammer throw, after winning the event by more than 17 feet over runner-up Timothy Morse of Radford.
Liberty junior Matt Parker (Rome, N.Y.) added a second place in the men's long jump. The reigning Big South long jump champion indoors, Parker produced a season-best 22-10.5 leap into a headwind. The event winner was freshman Keith Graham of Coastal Carolina, who landed at 23-5.25.
Josh Edmonds (So., Cooperstown, N.Y.) led the first 22 laps of the night's final event, the men's 10,000 meters, before hanging on for a runner-up finish. His official time was a personal best and IC4A-qualifying time of 30:52.25. High Point's Tamas Kovacs made a late move to claim first place in 30:44.32. Liberty sophomore Jake Reed (Marysville, Ohio) also qualified for the IC4A meet with a career-best 31:05.48 clocking.
For the Liberty women, Charlene Hibbert (Sr., Mississauga, Ontario) replicated her runner-up finish from the 2008 Big South indoor long jump. She leaped a season-best 18-8 to fall just one inch shy of event champion Shemelia Brandon of Radford.
Liberty took both second and third place in the women's 10,000 meters, courtesy of Carol Jefferson (Sr., Schwenksville, Pa.) and Dacia Bushman (Fr., Castalia, Iowa). Jefferson, the two-time defending meet champion and conference record holder, led the entire race until the bell lap. With 350 meters left, Coastal Carolina's Diana Jepchirchir ran past Jefferson to claim the title in a facility-record time of 35:24.54. Jefferson's late surge fell short, leaving her second in a season-best and ECAC-qualifying time of 35:25.64. Bushman ran an evenly-paced race, pulling away from Winthrop's Carey Phillips for third during the final two laps. The Liberty freshman's ECAC qualifier of 36:56.37 makes her the No. 2 Liberty 10K runner of all-time.
Flames junior Daniel Newell (Roanoke, Va.), seeking his first career Big South title, is halfway there in the decathlon. He won the first four events of the day and owns a 392-point lead over Coastal Carolina's Jack Hutchison. Newell, whose afternoon was highlighted by a 6-4.75 high jump, is on a personal-best pace. His first-day point total was 3,754, putting Brandon Hoskins' (Sr., Garden City, Texas) meet record of 6,886 in jeopardy on Friday. Matt Tarr (Jr., Madison Township, Pa.) sits in fourth place with a score of 3,013, just 69 tallies out of third.
Liberty freshmen heptathletes Krystle Matthews (Chesapeake, Va.) and Jennifer Healey (Virginia Beach, Va.) are in second and third place, respectively, through Thursday's four disciplines. Matthews, the Big South indoor pentathlon champion, got off to a strong start with a personal-best 15.55 in the 100-meter hurdles. Her point total of 2,479 leaves her 179 points behind Coastal Carolina's Elisha Tegeder, the day one leader. Meanwhile, Healey totaled 2,348 points.
Day two action will begin at 11:30 a.m. Friday morning. The multi events will start simultaneously, with the decathlon 110-meter hurdles and the heptathlon long jump.
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