Feb. 3, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford University track and field team will travel to Johnson City, Tenn., this weekend to compete in the annual Niswonger Invitational hosted by East Tennessee State University. The two-day event will start at 10 a.m. Friday and the final event will begin at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.
"This week is still another week of growth," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "We are still in a real heavy cycle of training but I still want to see us make progress. I really like this meet and feel we compete well here. I think with this week of preparation, we should definitely see some improvement."
In 2010, Samford began the season with the Niswonger Invitational. The meet turned out be the first step to a great season for Bulldog track and field as Samford set seven school records over the weekend.
Already in 2011, Samford has set seven new school records. In the opening weekend at the Blue Raider Invitational, junior Kyle Kirby topped his own school record in the weight throw. Sophomore Brandon Bassett set a new mark in the long jump while fellow sophomore Chenelle Terry set a new record in the high jump. Shelby Builta was the first freshman of the year to set a new mark as she topped the record in the weight throw.
Last weekend at the JRF Combined Events Invitational, two more freshmen made their mark on the 2011 season. Justin Emerson notched a new school record in the 60-meter dash while Ashley Cope topped the pentathlon record. The men's 4x400-meter relay team also posted a new school record.
"[The success of the freshmen] definitely shows the strength of our recruiting class and I really feel the best is yet to come for that young group," Tiffin said. "I have always felt that the better your freshmen are, the more driven the upperclassmen are and I know our freshmen are making us better."
This weekend's meet puts Samford just a few weeks out from the Southern Conference Indoor Championships. At last year's meet, the Bulldog men finished third while the Bulldog women finished fourth. The league office released the indoor power rankings earlier this week and Samford was ranked third on the men's side and fourth on the women's side.
"It is about what I expected," Tiffin said. "I think with about three weeks to go, we have a good bit of work to do but we are progressing toward where we want to be at the end of the month."
Appalachian State leads both the men's and the women's rankings, with 224 points on the men's side and 179 points on the women's side. Both the Western Carolina men (170) and women (137) follow in second place. The Samford men have 94 points in third place while the Samford women (91) are just eight points behind Georgia Southern (99), who ranks third on the women's side.
Friday's events begin at 10 a.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdle preliminaries. Throughout the day, participants will compete in the weight, 400-meter dash, pole vault, triple jump, 800 meters, 200-meter dash, high jump and shot put.
Saturday's events start at 8 a.m. with the 5000 meters followed by the unseeded 3000 meters, mile and 800 meters. The men's long jump and pole vault finals will start at 1 p.m., followed by the men's shot put and high jump finals at 2 p.m. The distance medley starts at 4 p.m., followed by the 400-meter dash finals and the long jump finals. The day wraps up with the 4x400 meter relays at 7:05 p.m.
Fans can find more information about the Niswonger Invitational including a meet schedule through links at the Samford track and field schedule page at www.samfordsports.com. A full recap and results will also be available on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each day's events.
