NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Jenn
Bulger stole the show for the Salisbury University track
and field team at the 2008 Mason-Dixon Outdoor Championships hosted
by Christopher Newport University. The junior participated in seven
events for the maroon and gold and finished first twice and second
twice en route to being named the 2008 Mason-Dixon Women's Field
Events Athlete of the Meet.
Salisbury's women's team couldn't defend its Mason-Dixon Outdoor
Championship crown as the host Captains won with 196 points.
The Sea Gulls finished second with 133 points. The results were the
same in the men's competition as CNU edged Salisbury, 203 to
179.50.
The Sea Gulls earned 34 all-conference selections (first, second
or third place finish in an event) as the teams competed in 40
events.
Bulger finished first in the high jump as she cleared 1.55
meters and was a member of the Sea Gulls' 4x400 meter relay team
which won with a time of 4:11.83. The other three members of the
relay team were seniors Alicia Canzanese and
Casey McInerny and sophomore Victoria
Lawson.
The two-day outdoor conference championships began on Friday
with six events. Bulger finished second in the women's long jump
(4.94 meters) to help the Gulls to 30 points to tie CNU after the
first day of competition. Bulger's teammate freshman
Melissa Stansbury finished third in three throwing
events (shot put, discus and hammer throw) as her hammer toss of
24.94 meters helped SU secure six points on Friday. Fellow freshman
Masha Berge also earned six points on Friday for
her third-place finish in the 10,000-meter run (41:07.22).
On Saturday, Bulger placed second in the 800-meter dash
(2:29.35), sixth in the shot put and a pair of seventh place
finishes in the javelin and 100-meter hurdles.
Lawson won the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.45 seconds as
Canzanese was two seconds behind as she crossed the finish line
with a time of 1:01.36. Lawson and Canzanese were also members of
the 4x400 meter relay team along with sophomore Ashleigh
Macintosh and freshman Charlese Phillips
who finished third overall (50.60 seconds). Phillips was also third
in the 100-meter dash (13.21 seconds). In the 3,000-meter
steeplechase the Sea Gulls took two of the top three spots. Senior
Zuzka O'Zwoldike and junior Lauren
DePaul finished within a second of each other in second
and third place, respectively. Junior Rachel
Knapstein was second overall in the pole vault as she
cleared 2.75 meters.
On the men's side, the Sea Gulls won five events en route to
having 19 athletes earn all-conference.
Salisbury was second after the first day on Friday as the Sea
Gulls earned 20 points in three events. The majority of those 20
points came after the completion of the 10,000-meter run as senior
Buck Stokes won the event with a time of 34:20.57
as junior teammate Ben Thomas was close behind in
third (35:48.48). Those two finishes gave SU 16 points. Over in the
hammer throw, SU sophomore Brandon Fugett got off
a toss of 43.41 meters to place second in the event on Friday.
Fugett would earn all-conference in three different throwing
events (discus, hammer and shot put). His throw of 40.01 meters in
the discus gave Fugett first place.
Sophomore Christian Adami was first in the
javelin as he threw the spear 53.71 meters. Freshman Andrew
Willis was third as he tossed the javelin 47.92 meters.
In the long distance events, senior Eric Graves
brought home two second-place finishes in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter
runs. Stokes was third in the 5,000 meter run with a time of
16:13.47, just 12 seconds off Graves' pace. Sophomore Bill
Nastasiak was third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase
(10:09.29).
SU sophomore Quentin Briscoe finished first in
the 110-meter hurdles (15.62 seconds) and was third in the triple
jump (13.17 meters). Freshman Brandon Lane edged
Briscoe in the triple jump (13.21 meters) to place second.
Senior Samuel Singleton was second in the
400-meter dash (48.94 seconds) while junior Josh
Michael was third in the 800-meter run (1:57.68). Senior
Colton Vander Vliet finished first in the
400-meter hurdles (54.60 seconds). The three Sea Gulls along with
freshman Matt Miller made up the SU 4x400 meter
relay team who finished second with a time of 3:24.25.
The Sea Gulls had a chance to cut into the Captains' lead with a
strong performance in the 4x100 meter relay but a bad baton
hand-off along with a runner leaving early led SU to be
disqualified. CNU won the event with a NCAA provisional time of
40.89 seconds.
Sea Gull track and field athletes will have one final chance to
qualify for the 2008 NCAA Division III championships on May 12 when
Salisbury participates in the Swarthmore Last Chance Meet hosted by
Swarthmore College.
