Spartans Men's Track Readies for Atlantic Sun Championships This Weekend
5/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 14, 2008
Atlantic Sun Track and Field Championships Schedule 
Atlantic Sun Track and Field Championships Heat Sheets
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The USC Upstate men's track and field team has gone traveled a long, winding road in its first season, which culminates Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, with the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Clemson University's Rock Norman Track and Field Complex. USC Upstate is also being recognized by the conference as the host school and it is the first time the event is being held in the state of South Carolina.
The meet gets underway on Friday at 9 a.m. and continues on Saturday at 9 a.m. with Atlantic Sun men's and women's track and field athletes competing for 43 individual titles as well as overall team titles. You can follow the championships with updated results at www.cfpitiming.com.
USC Upstate track and field head coach Jimmy Stephens said he is happy that his school was able to help secure a site for the championships and to be the host school. He also is hoping for a good showing from his athletes.
"We're looking for some good individual performances and personal records from the guys this weekend," USC Upstate track and field head coach Jimmy Stephens said. "It's been a long season and our guys have worked very hard to get to this point."
Spearheading the Upstate effort this weekend will be freshman Perrish Goggins and junior Marc Wartenberger, both of whom will be competing in the men's decathlon.
Goggins, who will also be competing in the men's long jump, triple jump and high jump, finished second in the men's heptathlon at the A-Sun Indoor Championships in early March and Wartenberger had a good effort earlier in the outdoor season in his first decathlon competition at the 49er Classic in mid-March.
"I think that Perrish and Marc both could do very well for us in the decathlon," Stephens said. "Both of them have a great chance at scoring some points."
In the sprint events, sophomore Billeto McGee will be competing in the men's 100 and 200 meter dashes and freshman DeNeal Cotton will take to the track in the men's 400 meter hurdles. Representing the Spartans in the distance events will be sophomore Matt Henderson (men's 5000 meters), junior Kevin Brabham (men's 1500 meters) and junior Brent Durden (men's 5000 meters).
Another athlete that could also score several points for Upstate is freshman thrower James Miles, who will be competing in the men's shot put, discus, and hammer throw. Several others who are also competing for the Spartans in throwing events are Dustin Ledford (javelin), Kyle Meeder (hammer throw) and Adam Brownlee (javelin).
"I think our throwers could have some good performances," Stephens said. "James has looked good in practice, our javelins have been doing well and we're excited to see how well they can do."
Stephens sees this first outdoor conference meet as a big learning experience for his mostly freshmen-laden team that could become a point of emphasis in the future.
"It's been a long season. The guys are ready to get ready to get re-energized for next season, but they are looking forward to this conference meet," Stephens said. "This will give us a gauge on what we need to work on in the future to compete for a championship down the road."
