Jan. 21, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University track and field team will begin the 2010 season this weekend at the Niswonger Invitational hosted by East Tennessee State. The two-day meet will showcase some of the world's top collegiate, post collegiate and professional athletes. Over 1,500 athletes from 75 teams will compete in the two-day event.
The meet will be held inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center this weekend on the David E. Walker Track. This year's meet is the eighth year the Niswonger Foundation will be sponsoring the event and 32nd meet overall.
The Samford track and field teams enter their second year in the Southern Conference under the direction of Head Coach Rod Tiffin. He is accompanied by a brand new support staff in Lori Strand and Diego Flaquer. Strand is a local distance aficionado who helped lead the Samford women to their first Southern Conference Cross Country title this fall. Flaquer will assist in the areas of sprinters, hurdlers and multi events. The product of Virginia Intermont College comes to Samford from Auburn University where he assisted head coach Ralph Spry and 1992 Olympic Coach Mel Rosen with the male sprinters and hurdlers.
Although his teams did not win a Southern Conference Championship in its first year as a member institution, Tiffin still deems the 2009 season a successful one. The Bulldogs brought home seven individual event championship titles, broke numerous school records and has several student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Regional meet.
"I thought last year was a successful season for the most part," Tiffin said. "We are trying to bring back a tradition of an all-around program here at Samford. There have been a lot of quality athletes here in the past and for us to surpass some of those records, and hopefully even more this year, shows that things are going in the right direction. We want to show everyone that no matter how small the university is, you can still accomplish great things."
Junior middle distance runner and 2010 women's captain Hillary Neal qualifying for the NCAA Regional in three separate events. She also set new school records in the indoor 800 meters and the outdoor 1500 meters and steeplechase and brought home the SoCon Individual Championship for the women's indoor mile and the outdoor steeplechase.
The men were highlighted by transfer Patrick Wells, who will be the men's captain for the 2010 team. He won all but one indoor pole vault competition in his first year as a Bulldogs while winning five of eight outdoor competitions including qualifying for the NCAA Regional and breaking two school records.
"I expect even more out of this group than I did from the group last year," Tiffin said. "We recruit every year with the idea of getting better. I know that as we get older every year and keep adding quality recruits that my job will get even harder because my expectations will be higher. I think this team can open some eyes around the country to Samford University Track and Field. We want to put our name in the minds and on the mounts of the quality recruits, and the only way to do that is to be successful."
After this weekend's season starter at the Niswonger Invitational, the Bulldogs will compete in the Clemson Games next weekend, Jan. 29-30. This will be the first of four meets Samford will compete in at Clemson. Next up is the Middle Tennessee Invitational on Feb. 5-6 before spending three consecutive weekends in Clemson. On Feb. 12-13, the Bulldogs will compete in the Tiger Paw Invitational followed by the Tiger Tune-up the next weekend. Samford will wrap-up in the indoor season with the SoCon Indoor Championships at Clemson on Feb. 26-27.
The outdoor season begins with the Birmingham Southern Invitational on March 12. The Bulldogs will then head to Tuscaloosa to participate in the Alabama Relays during the last weekend in March. The Florida Relays are up next (April 2-4) followed by the Ole Miss Invitational (April 10) and the Auburn Invitational (April 17). The SoCon Outdoor Championship are up next and will be hosted by Appalachian State on April 23-24. The Bulldogs then return to Ole Miss to compete in the Missisippi Open on May 1 before heading to the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 8. The first round of the NCAA Championships will be held in Greensboro, N.C., May 28-29 while the NCAA Championships are set for June 8-12 in Eugene, Ore.
Women's Team
The women's team returns 14 veterans to the 2010 squad, lead by lone senior Ashley Dance, seven juniors and six sophomores. After losing four from last season's squad, the Bulldog women welcome 12 newcomers to the roster for its second year in the Southern Conference.
Dance will head up the sprints group for the Samford women after receiving All-SoCon honors for her third-place performance in the 400-meter dash in the Indoor Championships. Her personal best in the preliminaries in the event ranks her fifth in the conference standings in the 400-meter dash. She also anchored the 4x400 relay team that ran a season-best and took fourth place at the Indoor Championships.
She is joined by freshmen Leslie Graf, Tatum Moffett, and Andrea Nall. Graf hails from Karns High School in Knoxville, Tenn., were she was named the Most Outstanding Girls' Sprinter. She will run the 400 meters ans should add depth to the relays. Moffett is a signee who chose to stay within her home state for college. She comes out of Westminster in Sterrett, Ala. She was a 1A/2A Champion in the 800 meters and a runner-up in the 400-meter dash. Tiffin looks for Moffett to add some needed depth to the sprint group. Nall is also an Alabama native who will help in the long sprints and 800 meters. She was named the Most Valuable Player for track and cross country at Escambia Academy (Atmore, Ala.) and is a three-time champion in the 800 meters.
Juniors Mary Barron and Morgan Tyler lead a group of freshman in the jump events as well as a sophomore transfer. Barron competed mostly in the pole vault as a sophomore, turning in her best performances in the outdoor season. Her second place finish at the BSC Invitational (March 14) ranked her fifth overall in the conference standings with a height of 10'11.75". Tyler will be a big player in the jumps and hurdles for the Bulldog women. Before being sidelined for the outdoor season, Tyler turned in a number of exceptional indoor performances. She started off the season with a win in the 60-meter hurdles at the TSU Invitational (Jan. 31) and also placed 10th in the long jump with a mark that ranked her ninth in the overall conference standings. She ranked fourth in the conference standings in the triple jump with her second place finish at the Sewanee Invitational (Feb. 7). She rounded out the season with a win in the 60-meter hurdles at the Indoor Championships, earning All-SoCon honors and ranking her first in the conference standings with a personal best time.
The duo is joined by freshmen Emily Allen, Laura Bedsole, Chenelle Terry and Mackenzie Wills. Allen is a product of renowned Ravenwood High School coach Gary Kinder that will help in several event areas. She is a great jump that can also pole vault and participate in the pentathlon and heptathlon. Bedsole is a local product out of Hoover High School who holds all girls pole vault records. She is a two-time runner-up in the 6A pole vault and placed in the top 20 in the 2009 Junior Olympics. Terry hails from Brentwood Academy in Nashville, Tenn., and will give the field crew some added punch. She should vie for a Southern Conference Championship as a Tennessee State Champion in the high jump. Wills is one of two transfers on the roster for the 2010 squad. She comes from the University of Kansas and will be the Bulldogs' pole vaulter this year. She is a two-time Ohio State Champion and All-Ohio State record holder in the pole vault as well as the 2008 Ohio Female Field Event Athlete of the Year.
The multi events, the pentathlon and heptathlon, will be concentrated on by veterans Christian McGuire and Elyse Rippe. Sophomore McGuire jumped right in as a freshman into the multi events. She ended the indoor season with a fifth place at the SoCon Championships in the pentathlon, earning All-Freshman honors, while doing the same in the javelin at the Outdoor Championships. Rippe placed 11th in both the pentathlon and heptathlon at the indoor and outdoor championship as a sophomore. She also set numerous personal bests within the multi events.
Morgan Tyler will be joined by freshmen Ashley Bridenbaugh and Julie McDonald in the hurdle events. Bridenbaugh is a native of Maryville, Tenn., and was a fourth place finisher in the 300-meter hurdles in the Tennessee State meet last year. She looks to be able to contribute to an already stellar hurdle group. McDonald is another local talent out of Oak Mountain High School. As a state runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles, she looks to run both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles for the Bulldogs this year.
A talented middle distance group is led by juniors Hillary Neal and Jessica Van Ausdall and sophomores Andrea Seccafien and Deanna Zidar. They will be supported by cast of newcomers including Holly Benson, Lauren D'Alessio and Madison Davis. Neal, this year's captain for the women's team, is the school record holder for the indoor and outdoor 800 meters and 1500 meters and part of the school record holding 4x400 relay team. She was a conference champion in the indoor 800 meters and the outdoor 1500 meters and steeplechase. She also was a regional qualifier in the 800 meters, 1500 meters and the steeplechase and placed 21st at the NCAA Mideast Regional (May 29-30) in the steeplechase. Her qualifying time in the 800 meters ranks her at the top of the conference standings as well as her time in the 1500 meters.
Van Ausdall led the women's distance medley relay team to first place in the Indoor Championships with a school record and course record while also earning All-SoCon honors. She started the outdoor season off with a second place finish in the 1500 meters at the BSC Invitational and capped it off with a third place finish in at the APSU Governers' Invitational which ranked her ninth in the top 20 times of the event in the overall conference standings.
Seccafien was named the SoCon Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year last year and capped of her first year as a Bulldog with outstanding marks on the track in the spring. She never finished lower than third in any of her events in the indoor season and was the conference champion in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, earning her All-Freshman honors and ranking her first in the overall conference standings. She also never finished lower than fourth in all of the Bulldogs' pre-conference meets, qualifying for the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 5000 meters with a first place finish at the SoCon Outdoor Championships. She then capped off her freshman season with a 21st place finish in the event at the regional meet on May 29.
Zidar made quite a splash as a freshman last season as well. She became a specialist in the 3000 meters and 5000 meters and capped off the indoor season with an All-Freshman honor ninth place finish in both events. In the outdoor season, she competed solely in the steeplechase, never finishing below third place before the conference championships. She kick-started the outdoor season with a win in the event at the BSC Invitational and clocked a personal best the next week at the Alabama Relays. She rounded out her freshman season with a sixth place finish at the outdoor championships, earning her All-Freshman honors.
Benson and D'Alessio got a head start this fall in the realms of distance running as a part of the 2009 Southern Conference Women's Cross Country Championship team. The pair are a couple of very talented 800-meter runners and will be counted on to make an immediate impact in the middle distance events. Davis, a Crossville, Tenn., native that hails from Cumberland Country High School, joined the cross country team late in the fall season. She enters her first track season as the reigning Cumberland Country record holder in the 800-meters. Tiffin expects her to come in and contribute in a short period of time.
Juniors Ina Ables and Lauren Pilcher will lead the distance group along with the help of sophomores Brittney Harrison, Alli Keithan and Jillian Klassen. They welcome freshman Christin Gaskill to the group.
Ables, who has been plagued with injuries throughout her career, had a standout red-shirt freshman season in 2008 and was back this year to lead the Bulldog women to their first SoCon Cross Country Championship. She finished fifth, just behind fellow Bulldog Neal, to pace the Bulldogs to the win. She looks to be a large contributor and leader in her junior season on the track. Pilcher was also sidelined by an injury last season, but had a breakout year in her sophomore season in 2008. She set personal bests in all distance races she competed in and will undoubtedly look to top herself in her first season back.
Harrison got her track career started in the outdoor season last year. She came in and contributed immediately to the 1500 meters and the 3000 meters. Her best performance resulted in a personal best at the APSU Governers' Invitational (April 4). Keithan had a stellar freshman indoor season but seemed to get her strides in the outdoor season last spring. She improved her 1500-meter time by almost 12 seconds at the APSU Governers' Invitational before cutting it be almost another 12 seconds at the SoCon Outdoor Championships in April. Klassen has yet to be able to compete on the track since her arrival at Samford in the fall of 2007. She has been plagued by injuries and is set to compete on the track for the first time this season.
Gaskill is Samford's final local talent on the women's side of the track. She hails from Oak Mountain High School and was named All-State in cross country and the team's Most Valuable player and Most Outstanding Senior Girl. Tiffin has big designs on Gaskill being a top player in the program before the end of her career as a Bulldog.
Men's Team
The men's team returns 16 veterans to the squad, lead by seniors Cameron Bean, Will Denton, Chas Keithan and Patrick Ollinger. Five juniors return including team captain Patrick Wells who joins with seven sophomores to welcome 11 newcomers to the 2010 squad.
Bean and Ollinger will lead the men's distance program along with sophomore Dan Hall and freshman Conrad Taylor. Bean returns to competition as a fifth-year senior after sitting out the indoor season last spring and being sidelined after only opportunity compete in the outdoor season. In that one opportunity, Bean won the steeplechase at the BSC Invitational and returns in 2010 to concentrate on that event. Ollinger specialized in the mile and the 3000 meters last season. He either ran a personal best or finished in the top 10 of each race he competed in and he designs to better that performance as a senior leader on the 2010 team.
Hall returned to the track after red-shirting his freshman year in 2008. His best performance came in the outdoor season as he posted back-to-back personal betsin 1500 meters at the APSU Governors' Invitational and the Ole Miss Invitational. Taylor is a local talent who joined the team in January and looks to make an impact in years to come.
The middle distance crew will be lead by cross country captain Scott Cope along with fellow junior Blaise Carie and senior Denton. The trio will receive help from newcomer Ramsey White, a local talent from Briarwood Christian School who should bolster the already strong middle distance crew.
Carie got back to the track in 2009 after redshirting his sophomore season in 2008. He sat out the first two indoor meet nursing an injury but returned to action in the Tiger Paw Invitational with a bang, setting a personal best in the mile. He will concentrate mostly on the steeplechase this year, an event he excelled in last spring as evidenced by his third place finish at the Ole Miss Invitational, ranking him second in the conference standings. He wrapped up his 2009 stint with win in the steeplechase at the SoCon Outdoor Championship, earning All-SoCon honors while also clocking a regional qualifying time and a personal best.
Cope began his sophomore season with a second place finish in the 800 meters in the first indoor meet of the year. It was only up from there as he set numerous personal bests before wrapping up indoor competition with a seventh place finish, and personal best, in the mile at the SoCon Indoor Championships. His best outdoor performance came at the APSU Governors' Invitational as he won the 800 meters and steeplechase with personal bests in each event.
Denton's junior season showed improvement from his sophomore season as he saw more action on the track in 2009. He kick-started the indoor season with a third place finish in the 800 meters at the Sewanee Invitational before improving on that mark in the next week. He continued to excel in the 800 meters in the outdoor season, ranking ninth in the conference standings in the event for 2009.
White started his collegiate running career in the fall, which was a new thing for the newcomer after spending his fall seasons in high school on the football field. The local addition showed strong promise in the cross country season and should add much depth to an already talented middle distance program.
The sprints crew will include three freshman and three additions from the Samford football team. Freshman Brad Bostic hails from Mt. Pisgah Christian in Atlanta, Ga., and will be a sprinter that helps bring some needs depth. He will focus on the 100, 200 and 400 meters, and with the help of fellow freshmen Zac Cordner and Bobby Ellison will bring Samford sprinting to the forefront. Cordner will concentrate on the 200 and 400 meters and according to Tiffin, the Flower Mound, Texas, native should make his presense now early in his career. Ellison will be running the 100 and 200 meters for the Bulldogs should use his quickness and experience from playing football and baseball in high school as a springboard for excellence in his college career. Redshirt junior Jamael Lett, sophomore Jamael Lett and freshman Chris Cephus will transfer their speed on the football field to the track to see if they can help Samford rise to the top in sprints.
Captain Wells will lead the jumps group as the Bulldogs' top pole vault in 2010 supported by fellow junior Zac Epperson, sophomore transfer Michael Seaman and freshman Ryan Cook. After following Tiffin from Alabama in 2009, the Hoover, Ala., native show his worth winning all but one pole vault competition in the indoor season and the first three in the outdoor season. He is the school record holder for both indoor and outdoor, clearing 15'10.50" in the indoor season and 16'07.25" in the outdoor season. In his return to the Alabama Relays as a Samford Bulldogs, he won the competition with a personal best while also capturing the titles in the indoor and outdoor SoCon Championships. He wrapped his 2009 season up with a 15th place finish in the NCAA Mideast Invitational with a school record mark.
Epperson has been a steady vaulter for the Bulldogs since his arrival in 2008. The Birmingham native improved on his freshman season quickly with a second place finish and personal best in the second indoor meet of the season. He topped that mark and placed sixth in the SoCon Indoor Champsionship before grabbing sixth place in the event at the Alabama Relays with an outdoor personal best. He wrapped up his sophomore season with a fifth place finish and a personal best in the SoCon Outdoor Championships.
Seaman comes to Samford from the University of Tennessee where he recorded a season-best clearance of 15'06.25" at the Virginia Tech Challenge in the indoor season. He was a regional qualifier for the Vols and looks to set himself apart this year to meet that mark again this year as a Bulldog.
Cook is the youngest member of the vault group this season. The Franklin, Tenn., native is a two-time state champion that should help Samford dominate the event this year at the Southern Conference Championships.
Sophomore Cavan Corcoran will be Samford's lone hurdler in 2010, and for good reason. He made his mark as a freshman in 2009, finishing in the top 10 of almost every competition he took on last spring. Marking personal best after personal best, his most outstanding performance probably came at the APSU Governors' Invitational where he won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time. He also earned All-Freshman and All-SoCon honors in the indoor and outdoor championships in the 60-meter and 110-meter hurdles respectively.
Junior Chris Davis leads the throws group assisted by sophomores Jason Gaines, Kyle Kirby and Thomas Oliver and freshmen Luke Davis and Ryland Robbins. Davis has improved his marks in the throws throughout the last three years. Although he sat out the indoor season in 2009, he chalked up personal bests in the outdoor shot put and hammer throw while taking eighth place in the shot put at the SoCon Outdoor Championships. Gaines, a defensive lineman for the Samford football team, competed in one indoor meet for the Samford field team last season. He is back this year to lend a hand in the throws. Kirby saw his first action last season after redshirting in 2008. He made his mark in the weight throw and shot put in the indoor season, chalking up personal bests but turned in his best performances at the APSU Governors' Invitational in the hammer throw and discus. Oliver also sat out his freshman indoor season, so 2010 will see his first action in events like the weight throw. He specialized in the javelin as a freshman. In his collegiate debut at the BSC Invitational, Oliver won the event with a mark that ranked him third in the conference standings. He won the event again two weeks later at the APSU Governors' Invitational before taking second and earning All-Freshman honors at the SoCon Outdoor Championships.
The freshman Davis will more than likely redshirt this season but will be one to help Samford immensely down the line in throws. The Norcross, Ga., native was named the Atlanta Scholar Athlete of the Year last year and was award the Georgia Certificate of Merit.
Sophomore Chinedu Amah, a wide receiver for the Bulldog football team, returns this year to compete in the jumps again. He only competed in one indoor meet for the Bulldogs last season, but walked away with a school record in the triple jump.
Senior Keithan and sophomore Donald Cooper will lead the multi group in 2010 with help from freshmen Brandon Basset and Bo Gilroy.
Last season saw more action in the multi events from Samford than there has been in the past few years. Keithan and Cooper jumped right into the challenge and put Samford back on the multi event map. Keithan placed ninth in the heptathlon at the SoCon Indoor Championships before taking fifth in the decathlon at the outdoor championships. Cooper earned All-Freshman honors at the Indoor Championships with his third place finish in the high jump and fourth place finish in the heptathlon. His championship mark in the high jump ranks him fourth in the overall conference standings while his total in the heptathlon ranks him third in the indoor standings. In the Outdoor Championships, Cooper earned All-Freshman honors with his sixth place finish in the high jump and fourth place finish in the decathlon.
Bassett is a Florida State runner-up in the pole vault and bronze medalist in the high jump. The product of Lawton Chiles High School in Tallahassee, Fla., brings an immediate impact in several areas and should be a huge contributor at the conference level. Gilroy is another product of the Gary Kinder training group out of Nashville's Ravenwood High School. As an all-state high jumper and decathlete, Gilroy has the potential to make an immediate impact in the multi-event area and in the Southern Conference.
