Dec. 8, 2011
Ice Breaker Meet Complete Results 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----The Samford Bulldogs concluded action at the Birmingham Ice Breaker track meet, with the men's and women's pole vault as well as the women's distance medley relay and men's heptathlon earning titles Thursday.
Additionally, seven indoor school records were set during the meet. Bo Ackerson-Gilroy, Justin Emerson and Bob Elliot II set men's records in the heptathlon (5,149), 200-meter dash (22.16) and triple jump (46-10.25, 14.28m), respectively. The women's squad set four records of their own. Ashley Cope and Emily Allen set records in Wednesday's pentathlon (3,391) and weight throw (49-10.5, 15.20m), while Claire Goodson and Katelyn Poole set records in Thursday's pole vault (12-3.5, 3.75m) and shot put (40-3.75, 12.29m), respectively.
Samford's pole vault squad showed its strength Thursday, as the women's team swept the top four spots in the event, while the men took three of the top four. Newcomer Claire Goodson took the top spot in the women's vault, clearing a school-record 12-3.5 (3.75m) on her second attempt, with no other competitor reaching that height. Cope, Heather Ballew and Laura Bedsole all tied for second with a clearance of 11-1.75 (3.40m).
On the men's side, 2010 All-American Michael Seaman picked up right where he left off last year, winning Thursday's competition by a large margin, clearing 16-10.75 (5.15m) on his third and final attempt. Owen Wagoner finished in second with a height of 16-2.75 (4.95m), while Cory Sears, competing unattached, placed fourth (14-7.25, 4.45m).
The women's distance medley relay was Samford's third event title of the day. Chelsea Treadway, Marie Demedicis, Anna Laura Irvine and Holly Benson pulled away from the pack, finishing in front with a comfortable cushion to cross the line at 12:01.68. The men's DMR performed well also, finishing second as Ramsey White, Emerson, James Graham and Layton Dorsettteamed up for a time of 10:42.17.
Competing unattached, newcomer Ben Davies maintained his first-place standing in the men's heptathlon and finished the seven events with a winning point total of 5,259. Teammate Ackerson-Gilroy was right behind Davies as the only other competitor to break 5,000 points, placing second with 5,149. Joshua McCombsalso finished in the top half of the field, placing fourth with 4,765 points.
Three of Samford's sprinters and hurdlers advanced to final rounds on Thursday. Cavan Corcoran finished third in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries (8.35), slightly improving his time in the finals to place third (8.34). Julie McDonald also placed third in the women's 60-meter hurdles (8.95), but fell to fourth in the finals (9.02). Justin Emersonmade the cut in the 60-meter dash prelims, finishing eighth 6.97, and improved his stock in the finals with a mark of 6.93 to finish fifth overall.
Samford's four 200-meter competitors all finished back-to-back overall, with three of the four winning their individual heat. Emerson won heat two with a time of 22.16 to place fifth overall. Alex Richter won the following heat in 22.28 to finish sixth overall. Donald Cooper, competing unattached, placed behind Emerson in heat two and found himself in seventh overall (22.39). Jonathon Bushwon the sixth heat in 22.57, placing eighth overall.
Similarly, three of Samford's competitors in the men's and women's 400-meter dash won their heats. Danielle Blanco won heat five in the women's competition to place ninth overall, while heat six winner Anna Laura Irvineplaced 12th overall. While Bush won his heat in the 400-meter dash to place 11th overall (50.60), the highest-placing Bulldog was Richter who placed ninth (49.95).
Deanna Zidar finished in the top third of her field in the women's 3,000 meters, finishing fifth in 10:27.39, nearly 20 seconds faster than sixth place. In a tightly-contested women's 1,600-meter relay, Samford fell to seventh though it was only seconds behind multiple teams in front. Ashley Cope, McDonald, Macy Conger and Christian McGuire ran a tough race and finished in 4:00.65. The second-place team , UAB, was only three seconds faster.
In the field events, Elliot II set a new school record in the triple jump with a third-place finish of 46-10.25 (14.28m). Chenelle Terry finished third overall in the high jump, second among collegiate competitors, after clearing 5-5.75 (1.65m) on her final attempt. Her counterpart on the men's side, Tyler Kemp, took fourth with a mark of 6-6.25 (1.99m). In the women's shot put, freshman Katelyn Poole impressed with a fourth-place finish (40-3.75, 12.29m) in her first collegiate competition.
Samford will have to wait over a month until their next competition, as they will return to the Birmingham CrossPlex on Friday, Jan. 13 for the UAB Invite.
