web Charlotte

Jan. 13, 2008

Complete Results

Blacksburg, Va. - Junior Lamarra Currie took the 200m title with a personal best of 24.42, lowering her previous best time by half a second, and was also the top collegiate finisher in the 55m dash at 6.93 as the Charlotte 49ers Indoor Track & Field teams posted strong record-breaking performances at the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday and Saturday. Each of her performances rank Currie second all-time for Charlotte, behind only multiple All-American trackster Shareese Woods in each event.

"We had a very solid meet with many respectable performances that build upon our meets from before the winter break and indicate continued improvement moving forward through the indoor season," head coach Bob Olesen said. "It was evident that athletes who were able to train effectively over the winter break had the best performances and those that were unable to complete as much training will have to shake off the break and get back into our normal workload and competitive mode."

Also in the sprints, senior Lajarsha Moses was right on Currie's heels in both events with third-place (24.64 in the 200m) and fourth-place (6.96 in the 55m) finishes. She likewise had a half-second best performance in the 200m and equaled her 55m best, ranking all-time fourth and tied for all-time second with Currie, respectively.

With the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 6.92, both Currie and Moses are on the verge of achieving provisional qualification.

"Coach Tim Hall and the short distance sprinters have been working very hard on improving their range and strength to the 200m this year and it is already very apparent that it is paying off," Olesen said.

On the men's side, freshman Darius Law also put his name in the record books with a school-record 34.16 in the 300m Friday evening before coming back Saturday with a fifth-place finish in the 400m at 48.71.

"Darius is starting his college career in strong fashion ranking first all-time in the 300m and fourth in the 400m," Olesen said. "We are all excited to see just how fast he will go as he settles into the collegiate scene."

Law's women's 49er freshman counterpart and former Southeast Raleigh High School teammate Ebonie Cunningham matched Law's achievement, setting the women's 300m dash school record in 39.07 for third place before following up with a strong runner-up showing in the 400m at 56.68.

In a testament to the team's depth in the long sprints, on both the men's and women's 300m events, each of the three entrants for each gender ran faster than the previous 300m school records. These included Law, Korel Mack, Dewayne Chandler, Cunningham, Yvonna Hines and Olivia Brown.

"While the 300m dash is not an event that we frequently contest, I can assure you that these times were strong performances and that rewriting the top of the 300m all-time lists is a significant achievement," Olesen said.

Rounding out the sprints, senior Jason Moore improved his season's best times in both the 55m and 200m dashes, with a fifth-place 6.37 and fourth-place 21.80, respectively. Freshman Yvonna Hines recorded a season's beast 57.33 for sixth in the 400m, ranking her sixth all-time, while freshman Kortnie Coleman and Shanice Jones ran 1:15.21 and 1:16.95 in the 500m for second and fourth all-time, respectively. Tacara Morrisey recorded a personal best in the 55m hurdles, building on her personal best result at Clemson before break with a 8.23 for fourth all-time.

In the field events, junior Jarryd Novotni recorded a personal best in the weight throw with a 49'8.5" toss, allowing him to move into second place all-time in the event. Sophomore pole vaulter Sam Hodapp exceeded his personal best with a 14'7.25" clearance, ranking the former Butler High School standout fourth all-time.

The men's long jump saw veteran senior LaMarcus Outing with a respectable early season leap of 23'5.25," while two newcomers were added to the all-time rankings at seventh and tenth as Tavaris Leak and Dewayne Chandler landed in the sand at 23'0" and 22'3.75," respectively. Leak, a long sprinter, and Chandler, a hurdler, are doing double duty on the horizontal jump runways for the 49ers, joining Outing for a group Olesen claims "should significantly impact scoring in the Atlantic 10 Championships long jump."

On the women's side, freshman Makenzie Mullinax immediately took possession of fifth on the all-time pole vault list with a vault of 10'6." Junior long jump and hurdle standout Pat Springs finished second in the long jump at 19'6.75," while senior Ashley Wiley recorded a 47'11.75" effort in the weight throw.

The meet concluded with season improvements for both genders in the 4x400m relays, with an all-freshmen women's squad of Cunnigham, Coleman, Jones and Hines finished third in 3:48.37 and fifth all-time for Charlotte. The men's team of Leak, Law, Moore and freshman Handy Dawes record a sixth-place season's best of 3.19.09.

The 49ers distance team, who practiced through the weekend, will join the sprinters, hurdlers and field eventers next weekend at the Clemson Invitational, a scored meet with nearly a dozen teams mainly comprised of ACC and SEC squads.

"This was a good post-winter break start to the primary segment of the indoor season and we're looking forward to taking the next steps at Clemson next weekend against some strong ACC and SEC competition," Olesen said.