 |
 Charlotte Women's Team |
May 4, 2008
AMHERST, Mass. - Junior Lamarra Currie captured gold in the 100m and 200m dashes and teammate Aja Jackson won the 800m and 1,500m events on Sunday as Charlotte won its third consecutive women's title at the 2008 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held at the Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Massachusetts.
On the men's side, Rhode Island seized its seventh crown in eight seasons as it edged runner-up Charlotte, 224-206.
Charlotte women amassed 203 points while Dayton and Rhode Island tied for second with 110.5 points apiece. It marked the highest-ever finish for UD, which finished seventh a year ago. Temple placed fourth with 108 points, followed by Richmond (68), Massachusetts (60), La Salle (57), Saint Joseph's (48), Duquesne (33.5), Saint Louis (22.5), Fordham (21) and Xavier (16).
Currie blistered the track in 11.55 (100m) and 24.11 (200m), while Jackson posted winning times of 2:11.52 in the 800m and 4:37.14 in the 1,500m events, respectively. In addition, the 49ers received first-place finishes on Sunday from freshmen Ebonie Cunningham in the 400m dash (55.77) and Assata Cowart (1:02.42) in the 400m hurdles and sophomores Sunita Brathwaite in the 100m hurdles (14.41) and Danielle Brown in the triple jump (38-11.5). Charlotte closed out the meet with a Championship-record winning time of 3.41.88 in the 4x400m relay, eclipsing the previous mark of 3.44.67, set by Virginia Tech in 1999. Currie garnered Most Outstanding Track Performer honors, while Cunningham was tabbed the Most Outstanding Rookie.
"We are very happy about winning our third straight title and real excited about the balance of our team this weekend," said Charlotte head coach Bob Olesen, who was named the women's Coach of the Year for the third time in as many years.
|
|
 |
"In some cases the times were quite impressive and sometimes they were just getting the job done, and that's what you do in a conference championship. You beat people and worry about the times later. They just did a fantastic job."
Other women's performances of note on Sunday included freshman Sarah Allen of Dayton winning the shot put (46-3.5); Richmond freshman Monica Howard placing first in the javelin (126-0); junior Devon Dupont of Temple winning the program's first-ever title in the heptathlon; and La Salle senior Rachel Papin becoming the Conference's first-ever three-time winner in the 5,000m run. Papin registered a meet-record time of 16:27.48, eclipsing her previous A-10 record of 16:33.31, established in 2006. Four-time discus champion Sarah Thornton of Rhode Island, who also placed first in the shot put on Saturday, earned Most Outstanding Field Performer honors.
Senior Ryan McCarthy defended his titles in the shot put (52-3.25) and javelin (209-0), while teammate Yudehwheh Gbaa claimed gold in the triple jump (48-1.75) for the second straight year as URI captured the men's crown for the second consecutive season. McCarthy, who also finished second in the discus on Saturday, became the first-ever three-time recipient of the Championship's Most Outstanding Field Performer Award.
"We are very pleased to win it and our kids really stepped up. We lost a lot of very talented seniors last year but this year's seniors really carried it on," said Rhode Island head coach John Copeland, who was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
`Ryan [McCarthy] came to Rhode Island simply as a shot putter and he has learned the javelin, discus and hammer and done very well. He would certainly get my vote."
La Salle finished in third place with 136 points, followed by Massachusetts (62), Duquesne (56), Temple (49), Fordham (37), Saint Joseph's (31), Richmond (28), Saint Louis (15) and Xavier (11).
Charlotte freshman Darius Law sprinted to victories in both the 200m (21.83) and 400m (48.08) dashes and was named the Most Outstanding Rookie for his efforts. In addition, he shared the Championship's Most Outstanding Track Performer honor with junior Steve Rendall of La Salle, who claimed gold in both the 110m hurdles (14.53) and 400m hurdles (53.50) on Sunday. It was one of four individual wins for the Explorers on the day as senior William Rhea claimed the 800m (1:51.73); junior Korey Edwards placed first in the 1,500m run (3:53.64); senior Sean Quigley defended his title in the 5,000m (14:16.60); and senior Adam Woodford became the program's first-ever decathlon champion (6,150 pts.).
The first-team All-Conference consists of the individual winners at the two-day Championship, while the All-Conference second team is made up of the second-place finishers. For complete results of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including live audio and video coverage, log on to www.atlantic10.org
