Feb. 25, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford track and field team will return Saturday to Clemson, S.C., for the third time this season to compete in the 2011 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
The two-day event will be held in the Clemson University Indoor Track Facility for the sixth straight year. It also marks the 76th annual championship for the men and the 24th for the women.
The championships will begin at 9 a.m., on Saturday with the women's pentathlon. The men follow at 9:15 a.m. with the heptathlon. The action will conclude around 7 p.m. on Saturday and start back up on Sunday at 9:15 a.m. The final event is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. on Sunday. An awards ceremony will be held at approximately 4:40 p.m.
Sunday afternoon.
For the second year in a row, Samford has been able to compete in the championship venue twice before the actual meet arrives. Although, the Bulldog squad should be familiar with its surroundings, Samford head coach Rod Tiffin says his team is still at a disadvantage.
"Most of the other schools are Carolina schools so it's a much shorter travel for them and almost like a home meet for them too," Tiffin said. "We try to get the most we can by going up there a couple times a year, but we are just anxious to get up there and see what we can do against conference competition this weekend."
Last season, the Appalachian State men and Western Carolina women walked away champions in Clemson, S.C. The title was the seventh for the Mountaineer men since 2000 and the Catamount women claimed their sixth championship in program history.
The Samford men placed third last season while the women took fourth place. The Bulldogs hold those same spots in the latest power rankings. On the men's side, Appalachian State leads the rankings with a 249 points followed by Western Carolina with 149. Samford is in third with 97 points.
On the women's side, the rankings are a little closer at the top. Appalachian State leads with 170 points followed by Western Carolina with 120 and Georgia Southern with 104. Samford comes in fourth with 83 points.
The rankings are determined by the top eight times or scores that are reported by the schools for each event that will be conducted at the league indoor championships.
Two Bulldogs will be defending individual championships this weekend. Junior Michael Seaman looks to defend his title in the men's pole vault while senior Hillary Neal will fight for one more title in the mile. In last year's meet, Neal set a Samford record and a SoCon record with her winning time of 4:49.52.
Sophomore Bo Ackerson-Gilroy placed third and set a SoCon record in the heptathlon last season as a true freshman. Junior Kyle Kirby placed third in the weight throw with a school record toss while sophomore Chenelle Terry finished second in the high jump in her first SoCon Championships appearance.
"On the men's side, to be honest, I think pole vault is a big event for us because that is our biggest point-getter as well as the heptathlon because it's the first event," Tiffin said. "If we can go in there and do well in those events at the beginning, we can get a good jump on the competition. Those two events are going to be our taking off point.
"The women are in a little bit of a different situation because we don't have one event that we can say we will get a whole bunch of points for us," Tiffin said. "We are kind of spread out on that side, so there is no room for any error on the women's side."
Admission is free to the public. A full recap and results from each day will be posted on www.samfordsports.com. Fans can also find links to real-time scoring, a schedule of events and directions to the facility at the Indoor Track and Field Championship page at www.soconsports.com.
