SU wins 6th straight CAC Men's Track and Field championship, women finish second
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Salisbury University's firm grip on the Capital Athletic Conference Men's Track and Field Championship continued Saturday in Fredericksburg, Va., on the campus of University of Mary Washington. The Sea Gulls won a record sixth consecutive conference crown as the maroon and gold won 11 of the 20 men's events. SU's women's track and field team finished second behind the powerful Mary Washington program that has won every conference title (16) since the conference began hosting track and field championships back in 1994.
This is the first CAC men's track and field championship for SU coach Kevin Lucas. The men posted 225 points which was 36.5 more than second place Mary Washington (188.50 points) followed by York (Pa.) College with 100.50 points. The championship is the 11th overall for the Sea Gull program since 1994.
"I am extremely proud of both teams especially since everybody has put in a lot of work into this season and to see it pay off is a great reward," said Lucas. "This is my first championship as a head coach. This is pretty special."
Salisbury set three conference meet records and won a combined 15 events out of a possible 40 as the men won 11 events and the women won four. The Sea Gulls also had 24 individuals earn All-CAC honors, which are awarded for a first or second place finish in any event. Three Salisbury relay teams were also named to the All-CAC team.
Junior All-American sprinter Delannie Spriggs set a new conference mark in the 100-meter dash as he crossed the finish line in 10.62 seconds. Spriggs' time breaks the old record held by York's Rob Powell who ran a 10.77 in 1998. Spriggs finished second in the 200-meter dash behind Wesley standout Larry Beavers. Spriggs finished with a personal best 21.79 seconds while Beavers crossed at 21.62. Both marks were better than the previous CAC mark (22.11 seconds) set by SU alum Samuel Singleton in 2007. Spriggs was also part of the first-place 4x100 meter relay team with a time of 41.85 seconds. The other members of that relay include junior Wayne Turner, freshmen Paul Moore and Xzavier Robertson.
"We knew going in that Delannie was going to do some great things today," said Lucas.
Junior Cory Beebe, a transfer from Heidelberg College, won two events for the maroon and gold in his first appearance at the CAC championships. The All-American set a new conference record in the 110-meter hurdles as he finished in 15.11 seconds. He later won the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.44 seconds which beat SU teammate Moore (49.92 seconds).
"I brought him [Cory] with me to Salisbury," said Lucas, who coached Beebe at Heidelberg. "To see him accomplish what he did today is very special."
In the four throwing events the Sea Gulls accumulated 58 points as SU won three of them. Junior All-American Brandon Fugett won the discus (45.73 meters) and improved his NCAA outdoor championship provisional mark in the shot put (16.37 meters). His shot put mark set a new conference mark by more than seven inches. Fugett was second in the hammer toss with a throw of 45.45 meters. Freshman Jay Drenner had a good showing with two third-place finishes in the discus (37.11 meters) and the shot put (12.75 meters). Junior Christian Adami successfully defended his CAC title in the javelin throw as he finished first with a toss of 54.72 meters.
Junior Quentin Briscoe won the 400-meter hurdles (55.32 seconds) while fellow teammates Michael Marfut (57.13) and sophomore Jesse Kolodziejski (58.33) finished close behind in third and fifth place, respectively. Junior Bill Nastasiak won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:06.54 and placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run (16:17.61). Sophomore Brandon Lane won the triple jump with a leap of 13.74 meters. Briscoe placed third (13.30) in the triple jump. In the high jump senior Bobby Price placed second (1.97 meters) while Lane (1.87 meters) was fourth.
Salisbury's final men's win came from the 4x400 meter relay team that consisted of senior Zack Dickerson, Briscoe, Marfut and Moore. For Dickerson he becomes the first CAC men's student-athlete to win four CAC championships in men's cross country and four CAC championships in men's track and field in a career.
The SU's women's team was led by senior Jenn Bulger and a trio of throwers. Salisbury earned 161.50 points behind four first-place finishes, eight second-places and five third-place performances. Mary Washington won the championship with 247.50 points. York (Pa.) finished third with 95 points.
Bulger competed in five different events and placed in all of them. She had four second-places and one third-place finish. Bulger finished second in the high jump (1.47 meters), long jump (4.94 meters), 400-meter hurdles (1:06.76) and was a member of the 4x100 meter relay team that finished second with a time of 50.41 seconds. The other members of the team include Esther Oyeneyin, junior Lindsey Metzler and freshman Lauren Foreman. Bulger finished third in the 100-meter hurdles (16.67 seconds).
"Jenn has worked real hard for this. She ran a great leg in the relay, she ran well in the 400 hurdles and set a personal record in the 100 hurdles," said Lucas.
Sophomore Masha Berge defended her CAC title in the 10,000-meter run as she finished first with a time of 42:23.21 while junior Emily Hammonds finished fourth (45:16.68). Sophomore Liz Tollett was second in the 5,000-meter run as she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:09.18.
The Sea Gulls dominated in the four throwing events as SU amassed 79 points, nearly 50 percent of the team scoring point total. SU won three events and took first, second and third in two different events.
"They put the team on their shoulders. Our women's throws came up huge today," said Lucas.
Freshman Jennifer Houghton had a career-day as she won the discus (33.83 meters), the hammer throw (36.26 meters) and the shot put (11.41 meters). Right behind Houghton was junior Janay Johnson who finished second in the three events; discus (32.26 meters), hammer throw (34.77 meters) and shot put (10.70 meters). Freshman Holly Defnet placed third in the discus (29.32 meters) and shot put (10.65 meters) and was fourth in the hammer throw (31.30 meters).
The day was full of personal records, conference records and a great team effort by the maroon and gold to win the men's title and a second place finish in the women's championship.
"Ultimately this is what we work towards all year. As a team the conference championship is your main focus," added Lucas.
The maroon and gold will travel to the University of Pennsylvania next weekend (April 23-25) to participate in the historic Penn Relays.
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