Cross Country/Track
SBU Track Report
By
Apr 15, 2008, 20:06

EMPORIA, Kan. -- SBU's track and field teams travelled to Emporia, Kansas this past weekend to compete in the Papa John’s DII Challenge.

Coach McElhaney commented: “The meet went very well and would have been a nice day if it wasn’t for the 20 mph winds that blew the entire day.  We had some very good races but due to the wind some of the times were not evidence of the effort put forth in those races.”

The men and women claimed twelve top 5 finishes including two event winners. Sophomore Jennifer Golden also threw the discus 117-04 feet to be named the new SBU Discus record holder. The women scored 77 points to place 6 our of 12 scoring teams, while the men scored 36 points to claim 9^th out of 13 scoring teams.

Top performances for the women included Chelsea Strahm’s third place finish (11:45.37) in the 3,000 meter steeple chase.  Her time also places her 5^th on the MIAA conference standings.

In the 1500 meter run SBU’s Kelsi Chowning claimed another 3^rd place finish (4:51.70).  Her time also ranks her 5^th in the MIAA conference standings.

In the 400 meter dash Jenny Blair and Jennifer Gillespie went 3^rd and 4^th with times of 60.08 and 60.23.  Blair and Gillespie also placed 4^th and 6^th in the 200 meter dash later in the day with times of 25.64 and 26.00. 

The women’s 800 ended in similar fashion as last week when SBU had three in the top five.  Today Alyssa Maggart and Mallory Roth finished 1^st and 2^nd while Kassidy Porter came in a close 6^th. 

Andrea Owensby put together a stellar performance in the women’s 3,000 meter run with a time of 11:12.24 which placed her 5^th.

Top performances for the men begins with the men’s 800 meter run where freshman Nathaniel Rogers came from behind to pass the field over the last 100 meters.  Rogers time of 1:56.92 was not his fastest of the season but overall a very strong performance.

In the men’s 1500 meter run Michael Pierce and Jeremy Glassmaker placed 2^nd and 7^th our of the 30 runner field.

In one of the last races of the day Michael McCampbell placed 3^rd with a 15:49.39.

Coach McElhaney, “Overall the weather could have been a lot worse but the wind did affect almost all of the races.  That is outdoor for you though, some days will be like this.  We still had some great performances and the athletes ran strong.  Let’s just hope we can get some better weather the last couple weeks before conference.”

Next week the track and field team travels to Kansas University for the KU Relays.  These relays host several elite athletes on all levels of track and field.  The competition will begin on Thursday and go through Saturday.

Complete results: http://www.emporia.edu/athletics/track/news/meetresults/2008D2Challengeresults.htm