Ospreys ready for conference

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's and women's track and field teams head to Clemson, S.C., for the final meet of the 2008 season: the Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Championships. The championships will be held at the Rock Norman Track and Field Complex May 16-17.

Schedule: Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17

Where: Rock Norman Track and Field Complex (Clemson, S.C.)

Last Season: The women look to build on last season's performances, where they had three Lady Ospreys earn conference championships and finished in fifth place overall with 83.5 points. Amanda Davey earned her first conference championship as a Lady Osprey at last year's meet, finishing first overall in the 10,000m with a time of 37:56.94. She also garnered all-conference honors in the 5,000m with her second-place time of 18:00.32.

Amy Stroder was the second Lady Osprey to be named conference champion, taking home first place in the high jump with a height of 1.70m. Teammate Emily Kohler picked up a conference championship as well after finishing first in the javelin throw with a distance of 40.19m, making it two years in row she has earned conference champion.

On the men's side, Sammy Palmer placed seventh in the 5,000m with a time of 15:24.06, while teammate Goran Kosic finished a few spots behind Palmer in 14^th (16:05.05). Kosic also competed in the 10,000m, where he took home eight place with a time of 33:18.04. Marvin Moore led the way for the Ospreys in the 800m, finishing seventh with a time of 1:58.66.

Notables: Davey should pick things up right where she left off last week and continue to lead the way for UNF. The senior took home second in the 1,500m with a time of 4:40.65. Kohler looks to make it three years in a row with conference champion honors, finishing first in the javelin the past two A-Sun Outdoor Championships. She is coming off a first-place finish in the javelin at last week's meet. Kohler's winning toss was measured at 43.31m.

Stroder hopes to build on her performances from last week, where she had three top-five finishes, adding to her already stellar senior season. Stroder competed in the 100m hurdles (14.90), high jump (1.75m), long jump (5.43m) and javelin (31.15m), finishing in ninth, fourth, fifth and fourth place. Her time in the 100m hurdles established a new UNF record.

As for the men, sophomore Will Pearce has anchored the team all year long, finishing in the top- 10 of all five events he has competed in this year. Pearce's best performance came last week at the UCF Invitational, where he took second in the 800m with a time of 1:56.11. Nathan Holden has been a major contributor as well, placing in the top-five in three of the four events he has entered this season.

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