Junior Chase Eckard broke his school record in the 800 meters. |
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Distance Runners Dominate Team Performances at Penn State National Open
Jan. 27, 2008
State College, Pa. - Junior Chase Eckard, leading a string of successful performances by the distance squad, broke his school record in the 800m and moved into possession of best in the Atlantic 10 as the Charlotte 49ers indoor track & field team competed at the Penn State National Open this weekend. Junior Pat Springs anchored the 49ers in the field events, successfully defending her 2007 National Open title with a first-place finish in the long jump.
"The National Open was a very competitive meet with many of the best athletes in the east," head coach Bob Olesen said. "We had some much needed development of performances in most events, which is expected this time of year but a relief to record. We're keeping pace with the rest of the conference, which saw significant improvements across events this weekend as the season unfolds."
In the distance events, Charlotte had numerous season bests, with the men's team setting three new program records. Eckard, posting a 1:51.67 for seventh in the event, now leads the conference by over three seconds coming out of the weekend's action. He joined the 4x800m relay team, rounded out by Adu Dentamo, Dakota Lowery and Aaron Kauffman, to run a 7:43.69 for 5th place in the invitational section, demolishing the old program record of 7:50.63 and moving into first in the A-10 by over four seconds.
The third record was set in the open section of the 1000m run when sophomore Jordan Rickard crossed the finish line in 2:32.74 for 13th place. He was followed closely by classmate Javan Lapp in 2:32.91.
The women's distance team was led by junior Aja Jackson with a conference-leading time of 2:10.50 in the 800m, less than a second from her school record in the event. Her fourth-place finish in the invitational section will place her atop the A-10 rankings by almost six seconds. Joining Jackson, freshman Amanda Goetschius broke in her first collegiate mile race at a personal best of 5:03.75 for second place in the open section and fifth all-time for Charlotte.
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Other notable distance performances included Dentamo (open mile; 4:14.89; 5th), Lowery (open mile; 4:19.37; 8th), Ryan Jank (invitational 5000m; 14:50.72; 9th), Christina Hobbs (1000m; 3:03.33; 10th; 3rd all-time), Liana Blue (5000m; 18:15.59; 11th; 6th all-time) and the women's 4x800m team of Jackson, Stephanie Snyder, Keara Thomas and Amanda Goetschius (9:21.12; 5th, 2nd all-time).
In the sprints, the women's 400m saw significant development with freshmen Ebonie Cunningham (55.66; 6th; 3rd all-time), Yvonna Hines (56.75; 10th; 5th all-time) and Kortnie Coleman (57.32; 18th; 7th all-time) recording personal bests, allowing the newcomers to rank first, second and third in the A-10 coming out of the weekend. They were joined by sophomore transfer Ashley Brown in the invitational 4x400m relay, finishing seventh in 3:44.86, good for second all-time and just over two seconds from the program record. Cunningham also contested her first collegiate 200m, finishing fifth in 24.65 in the open section for fifth all-time, just two spots behind third-placing junior Lamarra Currie with a strong 24.47.
Junior Pat Springs set a lifetime best in the 60m hurdles semifinal with a 8.70, maintaining her second-place spot on he all-time list, just 0.05 seconds from the record, and remaining atop the A-10 standings.
On the men's sprint side, senior Jason Moore recorded a season-best 200m at 21.66, finishing sixth in the invitational section, and a 6.89 in the 60m dash semifinals. The 60m hurdles saw improvement with personal bests for Korel Mack and Dewayne Chandler, as Mack went 8.08 in the preliminaries, moving to second all-time and tied for the conference lead, and Chandler improved by 18 hundredths for 8.27, good for eighth all-time and tied for fourth in the A-10. Freshman Darius Law was close to his personal best in the 400m with a 48.88 for 12th in the invitational section.
Other notable sprints performances included Handy Dawes (open 500m; 1:05.20; personal best and 2nd all-time), Tavaris Leak (open 500m; 1:05.52; personal best and 3rd all-time), Lajarsha Moses (60m; 7.54/200m; 24.91), Shanice Jones (invitational 500m; 1:16.17; 2nd; personal best and 4th all-time), Ashley Brown (invitational 500m; 1:16.47; 3rd; personal best and 5th all-time) and the 4x400m of Law, Moore, Dawes and Leak (3:17.53; season-best and first in the A-10).
In the field events, Springs won the long jump with a leap of 19'8.75" (6.01m), while Sam Hodapp continued his persistent pole vaulting with a 14'5.25" (4.40m) clearance for fifth in the open section.
The 49ers will return to action next weekend at the Carolina Classic.
"As we enter the championship phase of the season, we are poised to be very competitive in the conference championship team title race, but look for continued significant development of conference-ranking performances next week at Chapel Hill," Olesen said.
