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Post date: Apr 1, 2011 3:03:46 PM
The CNU thinclads jumped right in to the outdoor season with an early meet up the road at William & Mary. For most it was a chance to get used to the full-sized track and the additional throwing events, but for the indoor 800m National Qualifiers it was an opportunity to capitalize on their Championship peaks and take a shot at early outdoor qualifiers.
Hansen Hits Hurdle Provisional
Captains Post 18 PRs In Outdoor Season Kick-Off
With the indoor season just wrapped up, the Captains made a short trip up I-64 to open their outdoor season at William & Mary’s Tribe Open. While the weather was not quite as warm as last year’s event, it was definitely a comfortable first meet in the elements.
The feature events for the Captains were the women’s 400m Hurdles and the men’s 800m where Dira Hansen (Culpeper, VA) and Matthew Winkler (Palmyra, VA) looked to use their peak from Indoor Nationals to pick up early qualifiers for the outdoor season. Winkler got the first shot and had freshman teammate Shaowei Tu (Mechanicsville, VA) to help with pacing duties if necessary. The field went out fast and set the senior up well and providing some relief from the headwind on the first home stretch. Winkler proved to be the strongest on the day which left him to face that wind in to the finish. While shy of the National Qualifier he sought, he won with a 1:54.23 – just one second shy of his outdoor PR. Tu followed with a 4 second outdoor PR (1:56.04) that is also 0.7 seconds quicker than his new indoor best.
In the 400m Hurdles, Hansen looked very sharp in training and set her sights on an Automatic Qualifier (62.00). The extra adrenaline of competition, however, brought the hurdles to here a little quicker than she expected and left her making minor adjustments at almost every hurdle. She still cruised to victory in a PR 62.93 (#4 in CNU History) and a spot on the Provisional Qualifiers list.
Freshman Jenna Elliott (Fredericksburg, VA) added her name at #4 on the CNU High Jump Lists with a near-PR 1.60m/5-3 clearance and some good jumps at the Provisional Qualifying height of 1.65m. She also ran to a new 100m Hurdle PR (18.48) behind a breakthrough run by teammate Cheria Jackson (Woodbridge, VA). The junior’s 15.80 improved her best by 1.46 seconds! It was a good day all around for Jackson as she also jumped a near-PR 5.20m/17-0.75 in the Long Jump and anchored the 4x400m Relay with a nice early-season 60.9 leg.
Fellow Long Jumpers Olivia Green (Fairfax, VA) and Kalee Hammerton (Royersford, VA) landed PRs (4.80m/15-9 and 4.64m/15-2.75, respectively). Green added a Triple Jump best 10.00m/32-9.75 behind Caitlin Miller’s (Huntington, NY) 10.24m/33-7.25 effort. Hammerton cleared 3.10m/10-2 in the Pole Vault – just a few inches shy of her lifetime best in that event.
On the throwing fields, frosh Meara Goss (Dunn Loring, VA) led the Captains in both the Shot Put (9.36m/30-8.5) and Discus (31.00m/101-8). Christine Hood (Yorktown, VA) followed with a PR in the Shot Put (8.43m/27-8) as did Jill Raines (Jeffersonton, VA) in the Discus (25.40m/83-4). Another frosh led the Captains in the 800m – Jessica McClelland(Stafford, VA) ran a 2:27.70 and Emily Whitby (Alexandria, VA) added a PR 2:46.62.
Back to the men, Corey Lofton (Vienna, VA) trimmed a few seconds off his 5k PR and moved to #9 on the All-Time List with a 15:28.25 finish. The Captains sent nine men to the line in the 1500m with four being event debuts. Three of the five eligible for PR recognition came away with lifetime bests. Jeffrey Ball (Chesapeake, VA) made his debut in the event and led the squad with a 7th place 4:15.67 to edge Brian Huffman’s (Charlottesville, VA) near-PR 4:15.98. Two more event rookies followed – Christopher Allen (Reston, VA) in 4:19.18 and Daniel Austin (Culpeper, VA) in 4:19.50. Joshua Bowling’s (Crewe, VA) also slipped under 4:20 for a PR 4:19.66. Christopher Lyford (Leesburg, VA) improved his best by nearly 12 seconds to 4:20.91 and Garrick Clemente (Haymarket, VA) was a step behind with a PR 4:22.19.
Sophomore Joseph Taylor (Prince George, VA) claimed victory in the Pole Vault at 4.20m/13-9.25 with teammate David Fishman (Springfield, VA) second at 4.05m/13-3.5. Long Jumper Michael Kitchens(Leesburg, VA) matched his outdoor best 6.09m/19-11.75 and Jonathon Wade (Rocky Mount, VA) added nearly 10’ to his Discus PR (36.39m/119-4). On the track, Scott Teribury (Woodbridge, VA) finished just a half second shy of his 400m Hurdle best (58.30) while sprinters Brandon Evans (Stafford, VA) and Jeremy Scroggins (Hampton, VA) claimed PRs in the 100m (11.52) and 200m (24.56), respectively.
Next on the schedule is the VMI/Washington & Lee Track & Field Carnival in Lexington,VA.
For complete CNU Results, check out the Results Page.
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