CRIMSON TIDE INDOOR OPENER COMPLETE RESULTS

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Numerous personal bests were set Saturday by the Samford track and field team, as they continued their opening weekend competing at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener.
 
After breaking a school record in the shot put at yesterday's Blazer Invitational, Katelyn Poole set a new personal best in the weight throw with a distance of 47-7.75 (14.52m), placing 11th.  Just ahead of her was school record-holder Emily Allen in ninth (50-8, 15.44m).  In the men's high jump, Bob Elliot II tied for second clearing 6-8.75 (2.05m) on his third and final attempt, good for a new personal best mark.  Heptathlon standout Brandon Bassett competed in Saturday's shot put, heaving a personal-best distance of 42-9.75 (13.05m).
 
On the track, last year's SoCon runner-up in the 800 meters, sophomore Anna Laura Irvine, set a new PR in the event crossing the line in 2:12.21 to finish fourth with teammate Chelsea Treadway close behind in seventh (2:20.09).  Layton Dorsett earned a top-ten finish in the men's 3,000 meters, finishing eighth in 8:36.39, a new personal best for the Birmingham native.  Newcomer Luke Weishaar finished three spots back in 11th with a time of 8:41.43.
 
2012 SoCon Cross Country champion Lauren D'Alessio impressed in her 2013 track debut, placing second in a competitive women's mile run in 4:52.70.  D'Alessio's runner-up at the Cross Country Championships, freshman Rachel Roberts, earned an equally impressive third-place finish in the 3,000 meters in 9:52.24.  Nathan Hendershot, a transfer from Clemson University, ran well in his Samford debut placing third in the mile run (4:14.08) with freshman Adam Jones hot on his heels in fourth (4:17.42).
 
Junior Ashley Cope was very busy Saturday, running multiple events and performing well in each.  She placed fourth in the women's pole vault (12-1.5, 3.70m), eighth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.92) and ran the lead leg on the 1,600-meter relay team that finished in 3:57.00.  Redshirt senior Ben Davies placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdle prelims (8.46), qualifying for the finals where he finished sixth (8.52).  Justin Emerson and Julie McDonald both finished just out of qualifying range in their events, with Emerson ninth in the 60-meter dash prelims (6.89) and McDonald ninth in the 60-meter hurdle prelims (9.00).  Samford's remaining top-ten finishers on the day were Marie Demedicis placing tenth in the 400-meter dash (57.73) and the men's 1,600-meter relay team finishing ninth (3:22.92).
 
Samford continues its indoor season next weekend, competing at the Auburn Indoor Invitational on Saturday, January 19 at the Birmingham Crossplex.