Fugett and Spriggs qualify for NCAA Indoor Championships; several Gulls shine at Thompson Invitational

NEWARK, Del. - The Salisbury University men's and women's indoor track & field squads made the trek up Route-13 to compete in the Thompson Invitational, hosted by the University of Delaware, on Saturday. It proved to be a successful trip as several Sea Gulls posted top-three finishes in their individual events.

Sea Gull senior All-Americans Brandon Fugett (Randallstown, Md.) and Delannie Spriggs (Owings, Md.) each had successful events as they both qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, scheduled for March 12 and 13 in Greencastle, Ind. Fugett captured first place and set a new school record in the men's hammer throw with a toss of 55' 5.25". The mark provisionally qualifies him for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Fugett automatically qualifed for the men's shot put, as he took home first-place in that event with a put of 55' 2.75", which is the longest in Division III this season. Spriggs, a two-time indoor All-American, won the men's 60-meter dash against a field of Division I, II and III athletes; the win provisionally qualifies him for the indoor championships in Indiana.

The women's side featured a great deal of success as well, as sophomore Amanda Zyzak (Damascus, Md.) set a school record int he 60-meter dash. Zyzak's time of 8.35 seconds, which allowed her to finish sixth in the event, broke the two-year-old school record of 8.44 seconds. Claire Lawrence came in third place in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:26.63. In the 3000-meter run, sophomores Ana Steinman (Piscataway, N.J.) and Emily Powell (Mt. Airy, Md.) gave everything they had in the final stretch and finished second and third with times of 11:31.11 and 11:31.70, respectively.

In the women's field events, sophomore Jen Houghton (Mt. Laurel, N.J.) came in second place in the shot put with a toss of 37' 8". Freshman Chelsea Tavik came in third place overall with a toss of 37' 0.25". Sophomore Holly Defnet (Poolesville, Md.) came in third in the triple jump and cleared a distance of 33' 0.25".

With a great showing put forth today, SU head coach Jim Jones had many things to be pleased about. "It was a great way to start the 2010 portion of our schedule and we had some really great performances," he said.

Next up for the Sea Gulls is the Vince Brown Invitational hosted by Christopher Newport University at 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 6.