By: by Scott Lipsky
Day 1 Morning Photo Gallery
Day 1 Evening Photo Gallery
Day 2 Photo Gallery
Interview with Coach McGarey
Full Results
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Kennesaw State Owls women’s track and field team found themselves in a familiar place on Saturday in the Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, as they finished as the runner-up to the Jacksonville Dolphins for the second consecutive season.
Entering the final day of competition in the lead with 68.5 points to Jacksonville’s 62, the Owls had a lot of success on Saturday, as well, as they had 21 point-scoring performances, including seven of their 14 top-three finishes during the championship.
Contributions came from across the board, as runners and field athletes alike filled up the point sheet to give the Owls their high finish. The dynamic jumping duo of sophomore Suzzette Van-Lare and junior Jill Arthur helped their team’s cause on both days, as Van-Lare and Arthur finished second and third in the Long Jump on Friday, respectively, before switching places in the Triple Jump on Saturday to score a total of 28 points for the Black and Gold.
Freshman phenom Michelle Quimby, who has received a great bulk of attention for her performances in the pole vault during the indoor season, was true to form on Saturday, finishing in second place in her signature event, with a vault of 3.40 meters, putting her behind only North Florida’s Christina King. The two came into the event sharing the mark for the highest clearing vaults in the conference during the indoor season at 3.52 meters.
Quimby was a great example of the versatility required for a team to do so well in a conference championship, as she also finished tied for third in the high jump, clearing 1.68 meters and scoring a crucial 5.5 points for her team. The high jump turned out to be a major strength for the Owls during the weekend, as Jakia Ragland finished second in the event with a clearing jump of 1.68 meters, as well, with Christie Leverette (1.63 meters- fifth) and Van-Lare (1.58- eighth) also scoring in the event.
Mackenzie Howe continued her strong distance running in both the 3000 and 5000 meter runs on Friday and Saturday. Fresh off a win in the 3000 meters at the UNC Invitational on February 12 en-route to becoming the A-Sun Runner of the Week for her efforts in her 2010 indoor debut, the Watkinsville, Ga. native ran a time of 10:03.45 to finish as the runner-up in the event on Friday. The time was half of a second better than the 10:03.98 she ran at UNC, which was the fastest 3000 meter time run among A-Sun women heading into the championship.
She would continue her strong running on Saturday in the 5000 meters, finishing in third place with a time of 17:27.62. Her teammate, senior Erin Sutton, was right behind her, finishing fourth with a 17:46.69 time in her final collegiate indoor race.
Owls head coach Don McGarey was encouraged by the performance the women gave this weekend, even though they fell short of winning the championship.
“Jacksonville has a really strong team, an excellent program, so they deserve it,” he said of the Dolphins, who have now won the women’s indoor championship all five years, since its inception in 2006. “We really have nothing to be disappointed about. We went into the final day with the lead, and that’s an accomplishment in itself. We’re a little banged up right now with injuries, but the women that did come here to compete really left everything out on the track and mixed it up with the best of them. I’m really excited about the prospects for this team when we get everyone healthy again.”
2010 Atlantic Sun Indoor Track and Field Championships
February 26-27- Scoring Results
60 Meter Dash
4 Davis, Cynthia FR Kennesaw Sta 7.76 5
6 Jackson, Victoria SO Kennesaw Sta 7.79 3
60 Meter Hurdles
4 Stinson, LaKeshia SR Kennesaw Sta 9.02 5
6 Leverette, Christie SO Kennesaw Sta 9.26 3
200 Meter Dash
6 Jackson, Victoria SO Kennesaw Sta 25.36 3
7 Davis, Cynthia FR Kennesaw Sta 25.36 2
400 Meter Dash
8 Boswell, DeCoshia FR Kennesaw Sta 59.50 1
3000 Meter Run
2 Howe, Mackenzie JR Kennesaw Sta 10:03.45 8
8 Sutton, Erin SR Kennesaw Sta 10:24.89 1
5000 Meter Run
3 Howe, Mackenzie JR Kennesaw Sta 17:27.62 6
4 Sutton, Erin SR Kennesaw Sta 17:46.69 5
Distance Medley
4 Kennesaw State 12:19.29 5
1) German, Caitlin SR 2) Stinson, LaKeshia SR
3) Robinson, Brittany SO 4) Howe, Mackenzie JR
4x400 Meter Relay
2 Kennesaw State 3:55.44 8
1) Stinson, LaKeshia SR 2) Jackson, Victoria SO
3) Hines, Shelby SO 4) Boswell, DeCoshia FR
High Jump
2 Ragland, Jakia SR Kennesaw Sta 1.68m 5-06.00 8
3 Quimby, Michelle FR Kennesaw Sta 1.68m 5-06.00 5.50
5 Leverette, Christie SO Kennesaw Sta 1.63m 5-04.25 4
8 Van-Lare, Suzzette SO Kennesaw Sta 1.58m 5-02.25 1
Pole Vault
2 Quimby, Michelle FR Kennesaw Sta 3.40m 11-01.75 8
3 Smith, Teresa FR Kennesaw Sta 3.25m 10-08.00 5.50
7 Hightower, Kacey SO Kennesaw Sta 2.95m 9-08.00 2
Long Jump
2 Van-Lare, Suzzette SO Kennesaw Sta 5.92m 19-05.25 8
3 Arthur, Jill JR Kennesaw Sta 5.77m 18-11.25 6
7 Barchue, Lashanna FR Kennesaw Sta 5.34m 17-06.25 2
Triple Jump
2 Arthur, Jill JR Kennesaw Sta 11.87m 38-11.50 8
3 Van-Lare, Suzzette SO Kennesaw Sta 11.71m 38-05.00 6
Shot Put
3 Hawthorne, Chiquita SR Kennesaw Sta 12.88m 42-03.25 6
4 Mills, Suzee FR Kennesaw Sta 12.75m 41-10.00 5
Weight Throw
2 Lumpkin, Jessica JR Kennesaw Sta 16.33m 53-07.00 8
4 Hawthorne, Chiquita SR Kennesaw Sta 15.84m 51-11.75 5
7 Mills, Suzee FR Kennesaw Sta 15.38m 50-05.50 2
Pentathalon
2 Leverette, Christie SO Kennesaw Sta 3458 8
8 Mack, Naomi SO Kennesaw Sta 2960 1
Final Standings:
1) Jacksonville 211
2) Kennesaw State 154
3) North Florida 98
4) Campbell 62.5
5) East Tenn. St. 45
6) USC Upstate 39.5
7) Belmont 34
8) Lipscomb 18
