Upstate Continues To Improve At Georgia Limited
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
April 18, 2009
ATHENS, Ga. - Just a day after defeating Wofford in the second annual dual meet with the crosstown rivals, the USC Upstate track and field team sent a group of 10 athletes to the Bulldog Limited at the Spec Towns Track & Field Complex on Saturday afternoon. The Spartans were led by three top-six finishes in the throwing events including two sixth-place finishes in the hammer throw and the discus by junior Eric Chapman.
"We had a solid day," Upstate head track and field coach Jimmy Stephens said. Everyone performed close to their personal records, even after competing on Friday and being a little tired. We really need to stay focused over the next few weeks with both exams and the A-Sun Championships approaching, so I was really proud of the team for their performances (Saturday)."
The Spartans also had a couple strong performances in the pole vault, with sophomore Justin Crawford finishing fifth with a vault of 14-07.25 and freshman Terry Squibbs not far behind at 13-11.25, a career-best for the rookie.
Upstate also had a couple strong performances in the throwing events, with Chapman finishing sixth in both the discus and hammer throws. His launch of 125-00 in the discus was less than a foot short of the school record of 125-08, as he reached the finals in the event. Both senior Mark Wartenberger and junior Kyle Wentzel also competed in the discus.
In the hammer throw, Chapman posted a toss of 141-06 to finish sixth and make the finals, just in front of Wartenberger, who took seventh with a toss of 131-04. Wentzel added a fifth-place finish in the javelin throw with a toss of 143-02, just two feet off his school-record throw of 145-00, set on Friday against Wofford.
Sophomore Michael Meissner posted a school-record in the 400-meter dash, posting an 11th-place finish with a mark of 50.24 seconds.
On the women's side, four USC Upstate athletes competed with much of the team taking the rest of the weekend off after performing on Friday at the Wofford Dual Meet.
Freshman Gabrielle Walker posted an eighth-place finish in the 100-meter dash, posting a time of 12.98, just four-tenths of a second of her season-best mark of 12.94 seconds set Friday during the Wofford meet. She also added a top 10 finish in the long jump with a mark of 4.5 meters.
Sophomore LaTerrica Blocker finished seventh in the shot put, posting a school-record with a toss of 35-05.25 and senior Kayla Speed added an eighth-place finish in the hammer throw. Freshman Erin Tyre also competed in the 400-meter-dash.
Upstate will send another select group of athletes to the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania, the oldest and one of the most prestigious track and field events held in America every year. The meet begins on Thursday and wraps up Saturday.
