University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Mountaineer Open
Upstate Enjoys Successful Weekend at Mountaineer Open
2/7/2014 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Boone, N.C. – The USC Upstate track and field team had one of its best performances of the season this weekend at the Mountaineer Open as two school records were broken, six athletes earned first-place finishes and 24 personal-bests were achieved during the two-day meet held at the Holmes Convocation Center.
The women set two school records this weekend while posting four first-place finishes and 15 personal-bests, while the men had two first-place finishes and nine personal-bests.
Dominique Nock and Heaven Briggs each broke their own school records in the 55-meter dash and 400-meter dash. Nock compiled an indoor school record time in the 55-meter dash preliminaries of 7.08, breaking her old mark set at the season-opening Appalachian Invitational in Boone. Briggs followed by recording a school-record time of 58.95, eclipsing her old mark set at the UNCG Spartans Team Challenge, in the 400-meter dash.
Briggs and Nock were two of four Spartan women to pick up first-place finishes on the weekend. Briggs placed first in the 400-meter dash as Ashley Edmond (59.29) and Sierra White (1:00.90) finished second and third behind her with personal-best times. Nock had a first-place performance in the long jump with her mark of 5.30-meters (17-04.75) and Draneisha Griffin was first in the triple jump following a leap of 10.59-meters (34-09.00). Danielle Horneff finished first in the 3000-meter run with a personal-best time of 11:11.68. She was followed by Hannah Chaney in second place as she had a personal-best time of 11:21.31.
On the men's side, Theodore Kountourogiannis and Ross Oden teamed up for first-place finishes in their respective events. Kountourogiannis earned his first collegiate win in the mile run after a time of 4:32.65, and Oden would finish first in the 3000-meter run after logging a time of 9:03.60.
The women had personal-bests reached by Griffin (200-meter dash), White (200-meter dash), Kierstin Williams (triple jump), Brittany Walls (shot put), Keiyonna Gusby (55-meter hurdles), Brenicke Johnson (55-meter dash), Semaj Tolliver (55-meter dash) and Maya Weeks (55-meter dash, 200-meter dash).
The Upstate men saw nine personal-bests broken by Kountourogiannis (800-meter run), Jake McKown (shot put), Thomas Perkins (shot put), Michael Smith (long jump), Ronald Collins (55-meter hurdles), Joshua Lee (800-meter run), Rashaude Gibbs (200-meter dash), Cody Ellison (3000-meter run) and Cameron Fowler (3000-meter run).
Overall the Spartans compiled 28 top-five finishes this weekend with the women recording 18 and the men 10.
Upstate returns to Winston-Salem, N.C. and the JDL Fast Track for the third time this season to take part in the 2014 A-Sun Indoor Championships Feb. 21-22.
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