Saturday, February 28
Winston-Salem, N.C.
All Day
University of North Florida
at
Atlantic Sun Championship
#OspreyTF Heads to Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships
2/27/2015 5:10:00 PM | Men's Track, Women's Track
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The North Florida track and field team will conclude a solid indoor season this weekend in the Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Championships at JDL Fast Track.
The two-day event starts Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET and concludes at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 1.
Fans can visit AtlanticSun.org and follow @ASunXCTF on Twitter for live results, recaps, updates and more throughout the weekend.Â
Head Coach Jeff Pigg thoughts leading up to the championship event:
"After a 3 weeks of training the team is looking forward to see what gains have been made. We are excited to compete after three good weeks of work. Everyone is looking forward to the meet. We have prepared well and are hungry for some competition. I know that our seniors are looking to go out on top. Â
On the men's side, Jacoby Hadden has continually improved in the sprints and Cecil Role has come a long way in the 400. Their leadership for the men will be a good catalyst for the team. Freshman miler Nick Morken has already had some very nice freshman marks and looks to be a strong competitor in the Mile and 800m. Junior Shelton McLean looks to follow up his second-place finish from 2014 with another strong showing in the pole vault. Sophomore Caleb Collins should be very stong in both the triple jump and long jump after posting a second and fourth place finishes as a freshman last year.
The 110m hurdles should be another solid event for us with the duo of Darius VanBlount and Marques Burgman. Freshman Bobby Harris, who notched a school record high jump mark in his collegiate debut, is looking to finish off the indoor season with a solid jump at the A-Sun Championships. While he has recently been slowed by injury, he is still going to compete and should do very well. Â
Sophomore Mike Damato and the freshman duo of Tyler Bennett and Brad Hort are the core of our distance group that looks to build on their strong cross country showing in the 3000m and 5000m. Junior twins Justin and Jeremy Bryan have both had very nice training sessions recently and look to be strong for us in the Mile, 3000m and 5000m. We go into the meet with four of the top 800m runners, so I feel like that should be a stong event for the Ospreys led by Morken, Taylor Sumagpang, Christian Acuna and the freshman duo of Rayford James and Kevin Heron. Â
For the women, pole vaulters Megan Walker and Meg Simon have both finished runner-up in the A-Sun and prior meets and hope to continue their strong vaulting performances. Vernetia Irving has shown great improvement in both the 60m and 200m, with hopes of earning a spot on the podium in her senior campaign.
The 800m should also be a stong event for the North Florida runners as Vanessa Philbert, Dagmar Olsen and Alessandra Valdes currently ranked second, third and fourth in the Atlantic Sun, respectively. In addition, Valdes and fellow junior Alexis Irwin along with freshman Emily Stallings, a local product from Providence High, hope to bring home good finishes in the Mile.
In the 3000m and 5000m, freshman Eden Meyer and senior Elle Baker hope to continue their stong distance running and lead the UNF contingent to some all-conference pacing. Â
We are also excited for freshmen high jumpers Emily Miller and Alyssa Young, who have done very well this indoor season and look to finish well for the Ospreys."
The two-day event starts Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET and concludes at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 1.
Fans can visit AtlanticSun.org and follow @ASunXCTF on Twitter for live results, recaps, updates and more throughout the weekend.Â
Head Coach Jeff Pigg thoughts leading up to the championship event:
"After a 3 weeks of training the team is looking forward to see what gains have been made. We are excited to compete after three good weeks of work. Everyone is looking forward to the meet. We have prepared well and are hungry for some competition. I know that our seniors are looking to go out on top. Â
On the men's side, Jacoby Hadden has continually improved in the sprints and Cecil Role has come a long way in the 400. Their leadership for the men will be a good catalyst for the team. Freshman miler Nick Morken has already had some very nice freshman marks and looks to be a strong competitor in the Mile and 800m. Junior Shelton McLean looks to follow up his second-place finish from 2014 with another strong showing in the pole vault. Sophomore Caleb Collins should be very stong in both the triple jump and long jump after posting a second and fourth place finishes as a freshman last year.
The 110m hurdles should be another solid event for us with the duo of Darius VanBlount and Marques Burgman. Freshman Bobby Harris, who notched a school record high jump mark in his collegiate debut, is looking to finish off the indoor season with a solid jump at the A-Sun Championships. While he has recently been slowed by injury, he is still going to compete and should do very well. Â
Sophomore Mike Damato and the freshman duo of Tyler Bennett and Brad Hort are the core of our distance group that looks to build on their strong cross country showing in the 3000m and 5000m. Junior twins Justin and Jeremy Bryan have both had very nice training sessions recently and look to be strong for us in the Mile, 3000m and 5000m. We go into the meet with four of the top 800m runners, so I feel like that should be a stong event for the Ospreys led by Morken, Taylor Sumagpang, Christian Acuna and the freshman duo of Rayford James and Kevin Heron. Â
For the women, pole vaulters Megan Walker and Meg Simon have both finished runner-up in the A-Sun and prior meets and hope to continue their strong vaulting performances. Vernetia Irving has shown great improvement in both the 60m and 200m, with hopes of earning a spot on the podium in her senior campaign.
The 800m should also be a stong event for the North Florida runners as Vanessa Philbert, Dagmar Olsen and Alessandra Valdes currently ranked second, third and fourth in the Atlantic Sun, respectively. In addition, Valdes and fellow junior Alexis Irwin along with freshman Emily Stallings, a local product from Providence High, hope to bring home good finishes in the Mile.
In the 3000m and 5000m, freshman Eden Meyer and senior Elle Baker hope to continue their stong distance running and lead the UNF contingent to some all-conference pacing. Â
We are also excited for freshmen high jumpers Emily Miller and Alyssa Young, who have done very well this indoor season and look to finish well for the Ospreys."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Men's Track
/ Women's Track
/ Women's Track
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