Spartans Track and Field Raise the Bar as Men Finish Fourth and Women Sixth at Conference Championships
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
May 17, 2009
Complete A-Sun Championship Results 
JACKSONVILLE, FLA. - After a spectacular day one of competition in which the USC Upstate men's track and field team was ranked second among all teams competing, the Spartans returned to Hodges Stadium for the remaining conference championship events on Saturday. The weekend concluded with a fourth-place finish for the Upstate men (a 66-point improvement from last year) and a sixth-place finish for the women.
Jacksonville took the women's title for the fourth consecutive season with a whopping 212 points. Kennesaw State finished second (140) while UNF topped off the third spot (90). ETSU and Campbell also finished ahead of Upstate, who finished with 37 points in their first outdoor conference championship.
ETSU took the title for the men with 198 points, sweeping the academic year titles after winning in cross country and indoor as well. Kennesaw State took second (180) and Campbell took third (104). Upstate finished fourth with 71 points.
The Spartans put together a string of inspiring performances and gave a tireless effort to put up a close fight, despite lacking a home track facility to practice on. Nonetheless, both teams continued to see and attain many highlights on Saturday, with several different athletes contributing to the team's point totals.
"I'm really proud of how the team came together and competed this weekend," said Upstate's head coach Jimmy Stephens. "Our men's point total was significantly higher than last year, as we have become a much deeper and more talented squad in just one season. It was amazing yesterday to end day one in second place. I knew we could still finish well and we did just that. This means so much for the second-year Division I program that we are."
Perrish Goggins continued his dominance at conference championships, adding to his individual long jump title on Friday, with another first-place finish in the men's high jump over Lipscomb's Steven Lindsay (2m). Goggins also added a third-place finish in the triple jump (13.75m) to his impressive two-day resume and helped the Upstate men's 4x100 relay team to a fourth-place finish in 43.19, a school record. Goggins finished the weekend with two first-place medals and one third-place medal.
Freshman Reggie Thompson also had a stellar weekend in helping the men to a fourth-place finish and was named the Most Outstanding Freshman Performer of the championships. Thompson took third in the men's decathlon, earning six points. He also finished fifth in the high jump (1.9m), helped the men to a fourth-place finish in the 4x100 relay and competed in the 110m hurdles.
"Perrish and Reggie combine to form a lethal team in the field events," Stephens said. "Justin Crawford has also been solid in the pole vault all season as he won another individual title this weekend. As young athletes, they really have made names for themselves and have brought so much to our program. We have a group of talented athletes that are only freshmen and sophomores competing against juniors, seniors and some fifth-year seniors, and we are really competing well."
On the women's side, it was Erin Tyre who competed in the most events, earning a fifth-place finish in the women's heptathlon.
"Erin gave a fantastic effort throughout the weekend's competition. This was her first time competing in the heptathlon. She has learned and improved so much this season and it was great to see her produce points for the team the way she did."
With the team's top distance runner out of action who happened to be her older sister, freshman Joan Tangwar picked up the slack and saw her time on the podium in helping to lead the Upstate women's distance squad on Saturday. Tangwar earned 10 points with a third-place finish in the women's 1,500m (4:38.02) and a fourth-place finish in the 800m (2:18.60). Both times represented personal bests for the freshman and the 1,500m finish represented a new school record for the program. Caroline Chelulei also earned one of the top scoring spots in the 1,500m with a sixth-place finish in 4:45.09, a five second personal best.
Jemeli Sang, who earned a second-place finish in the 10,000m on Friday night, also returned strong with a fourth-place finish in the women's 5,000m in 17:55.34, securing four more points. Chelulei was right behind in the fifth-place spot to add two more points.
Additionally, Lauren Walker made strong contributions on the women's side, adding four points in an impressive fourth-place finish in the women's 3k steeplechase with a time of 11:56.47. Conrad Goeringer competed in the men's 3k steeplechase for the first time in his collegiate career.
The women's distance squad scored points in each event, despite not being able to compete at championships last year.
"With Emily out this weekend, the other girls really came together and competed," said Upstate's distance coach Ed Schlichter. "I was extremely proud of all four of the freshmen girls. Lauren started us off on the right track by taking control of the steeple, grabbing fourth-place honors and a new personal best. Joan ran an outstanding 1,500m, dropping nine seconds off of her best time, and then ran the 800 like a veteran. Caroline also dropped five seconds off her best time in the 1,500 and 50 seconds in the 5k. We had all four girls come back in the 5k after a tiring weekend and still clinched some solid times. It's been a great season and I'm very proud of them all. They have showed how strong we will be next fall."
Marc Wartenberger came back for more personal bests on Saturday after posting a third-place finish in the hammer throw on Friday and setting a school record. In Saturday's action, Wartenberger took sixth in the discus throw with a toss of 39.36m, collecting another school record.
Michael Meissner joined the top finishers in the men's 400m dash, circling the track in 49.51 seconds, good for a fifth-place finish overall. He also broke his own school record. Kiah White and Adrienne Singletary saw action in the women's 400m.
Both the men's and women's 4X100 teams set school records. The women's team, consisting of White, Singletary, LaTerrica Blocker and Gabrielle Walker, earned a fifth-place finish in 50.47 while Graham Long, Reggie Thompson, Perrish Goggins and Meissner teamed together to earn the fourth-place spot.
Meissner also competed in the 400m hurdles for the first time in his Upstate career. Also seeing action in the hurdles on Saturday were Reggie Thompson (110m hurdles) and Kathryn Neely (100m hurdles and 400m hurdles). Kyle Wentzel posted an eighth-place finish in the men's javelin with a distance of 43.19m and also saw action in the discus.
Dakota Speed and Joseph Jiles demonstrated their season-long improvements in the high jump, setting new personal best records on Saturday.
This marked the first time in the history of the program that the USC Upstate women competed at the outdoor conference championships. They ranked seventh at the 2008-09 indoor conference championships with 28 points. In considering this year's immense and significant improvement as a program, compare the men's finish last year at the outdoor championships in the seventh-place spot with only five points, compared to this year's 71 points. They finished fourth in the 2008-09 indoor season with 47.5 points.
"I'm so encouraged by the direction this program is headed," Stephens said. "I only see great things in the future for Upstate track and field. We have some really good young athletes and we need to keep developing their talent and adding new recruits to ultimately reach our long-term goal, which is to win a conference championship."
