March 13, 2010

'Southern Invitational Complete Results

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University track and field team continued its record-setting ways Saturday in the first outdoor meet of the season. The Bulldog men took second and women placed third at the `Southern Invitational hosted by Birmingham-Southern. Alabama State took both the men's and women's team titles.

Kyle Kirby and Thomas Oliver highlight the action for the Bulldogs with school records in their respective events. Kirby won the hammer throw with a school record of 168-2 while Oliver won the javelin with a school record of 207-10.

"Thomas (Oliver) did a great job today of handling the elements and setting the school record," Samford Head Coach Rod Tiffin said. "He and Kyle (Kirby) were really able to get it done under some really tough conditions. The group worked really hard under some crazy weather."

Chris Davis placed third in the hammer with a toss of 130-1 while taking second in the shot put with a distance of 46-4.25. Luke Davis took 15th in his first collegiate meet with a toss of 36-4.25.

Also in the men's field events, Bo-Ackerson Gilroy placed fifth in the pole vault (12-11.50), 11th in the discus (112-8) and 13th in the long jump (19-7.50). Donald Cooper placed 12th in the long jump (19-8) and 16th in the discus with a personal best of 105-1.

Chas Keithan placed 10th in the high jump with a mark of 5-10.

The Bulldog men swept the top three spots in the pole vault as they became accustomed to doing in the indoor season. Patrick Wells won the event with a vault of 15-5 followed by Ryan Cook in second with a height of 14-11 and Zac Epperson in third with a height of 14-5.25.

In the men's track events, Cameron Bean took first place in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:00.19 followed by Scott Cope in second with a time of 4:03.56. Ramsey White placed ninth with a time of 4:12.60.

Blaise Carie took fifth place in the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.45 while Dan Hall placed 28th in the event with a time of 2:09.64.

Keithan placed ninth in the 400-meter dash with a personal best of 51.11 followed by Cooper in tenth with a time of 51.13.

Cavan Corcoran also won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.20.

On the women's side several Bulldogs highlighted the track events. Morgan Tyler won the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries with a time of 14.61 before taking second in the finals with a time of 15.84. Julie McDonald was second in the preliminaries with a time of 15.46 before taking fifth in the finals with a time of 15.75. Ashley Bridenbaugh placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.56.

In the women's 1500 meters, Lauren D'Alessio led the Samford women with a second place finish in 4:40.65. Holley Benson took fourth place with a time of 4:42.43 followed by Jessica Van Ausdall in sixth place with a time of 4:47.56. Andrea Seccafien placed 11th place with a time of 4:57.12 followed by Jillian Klassen (5:08.81) in 20th place, Deanna Zidar (5:12.95) in 24th place and Lauren Pilcher (5:31.86) in 34th place.

Lillie Jackson placed 11th in the 5000 meters with a time of 19:26.71 while Alli Keithan placed 11th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:30.10.

Ashley Dance placed sixth in the 400-meter dash with at time of 59.91 while Christian McGuire took 10th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.07 followed by Tatum Moffett in 11th with a time of 27.17.

The Samford women also took second place in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 49.43. That team was made up of Leslie Graff, Ashley Dance, Tatum Moffett and Lauren McDonald.

In the high jump, Chenelle Terry placed second with a height of 5-3.75 followed by Emily Allen (4-7.75) in 12th place and Elyse Rippe (4-6) who tied for 15th place. Laura Bedsole took second place in the pole vault with a personal best of 10-11.75 while Jessica Lucas took sixth in the hammer throw with a personal best of 109-3 and second in the javelin with a school record-tying toss of 122-5.

The Bulldogs will be back in action in two weeks as they take a trip down Interstate 20/59 to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to compete in the Alabama Relays, March 25-28.