CHAPEL HILL, S.C. - Two members of the College of Charleston women's track & field team made their mark in the school history books as the team competed at the 2010 Kent Taylor UNC Classic on Saturday.
Freshman jumper Jelain McArthur (Laurens, S.C./Laurens District) set two school records in her second collegiate meet. After placing ninth in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles with a school-record time of 9.14 seconds, she shaved another .18 second off her time to finish fifth in the finals (8.96 seconds). She now owns the two fastest times in CofC history, beating the previous record by .80 second.
Junior Brynne Johnson (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) also participated in the 60-meter hurdles, setting a personal-best time of 9.98 seconds. Her time was .16 second faster than her previous personal record and is the third-fastest time in school history, behind McArthur.
McArthur also broke the school record in the triple jump, coming in ninth with a distance of 37'8". Her mark is 1'6" farther than the previous record set by current Cougar Saskia Kalmeijer (Brussels, Belgium/Pope). Kalmeijer, who now owns the second-best jump in school history, also participated in the triple jump, where her distance of 34'1½" placed her eighth on CofC's all-time list.
Rookie pole vaulter Chelsea Taylor (Seneca, S.C./Seneca) placed second at the UNC Classic with a school-record jump of 11'5¾". She jumped ¾" higher than CofC's previous record-holder, Summer Chambless, who set the record in 2008. Chambless previously held nine of the top-10 performances by a Cougar.
Sophomore Emily Smith (Rock Hill, S.C./Northwestern) continued to show her dominance in the high jump. Her height of 5'6" earned a third-place finish and was just two inches short of the champion.
In the track events, senior runner Emily Nagle (Annapolis, Md./Richmond) led the Cougars with a 14th-place finish in the 3,000-meters. Her time of 10:49.44 places her 10th on the school's all-time list. Junior Erin Stoddard (Mauldin, S.C./J.L. Mann) joined Nagle in the race, placing 22nd with a time of 11:13.97.
Junior Mary Zolga (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) also earned a top-20 finish, placing 17th in the 400-meters with a time of 1:01.31. Her time is the eighth-fastest in school history. Zolga already owns six of the top-10 performances in the 400-meters.
Charleston travels to Clemson, S.C. next weekend to participate in the two-day Clemson Games.
