Friday, February 26, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – On the first day of the 2010 Atlantic Sun Championships from the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center, the Kennesaw State Owls finished Friday atop the standings with 68.5 points, just besting the four-time conference champion Jacksonville Dolphins with 62 points.

For the fourth time in five years, a Jacksonville athlete won the pentathlon as Stacey Young improved on her second-place finish from last season. In the 60-meter hurdles, the sophomore finished second in three of the five events to edge out Kennesaw State’s Christie Leverette by a mere 32 points. Her teammate Charlene Charles took third.

The Dolphin squad of Susanne Klungtveit, Unique Singleton, Amalia Vogler and Joanne Pierre finished first in the distance medley with a time of 12:14.57, followed by UNF and Lipscomb.

The women’s 3000-meter run saw USC Upstate’s Carolyne Chelulei claim the gold with a time of 10:03.02, slightly ahead of 2009 champion Kennesaw State’s Mackenzie Howe at 10:03.45 and the 2009 Women’s Cross Country Champion, Brittany Thune of Belmont at 10:09.55.

In the high jump, the UNF Ospreys’ Elise Trexler secured a first-place finish with a leap of 1.68-meters, followed by Kennesaw State’s Jakia Ragland and a tie for third between the Owls’ Michelle Quimby and the Campbell Camels’ Elizabeth Mize.

The Dolphins’ Charles came back from a third-place finish in the pentathlon to winning gold in the long jump, as Suzzette Van Lare and Jill Arthur of the Owls claimed the silver and bronze.

Jacksonville recorded another individual win in the shot put, as Hillary Crook set a conference record mark of 14.28-meters in the last event of the day, while Campbell’s Jessica Dunston and Chiquita Hawthorne secured the silver and bronze medals with throws of 13.05 and 12.88-meters, respectively.

In the preliminaries for the 60-meter dash, Louise Kiernan of Jacksonville set an NCAA qualifying time of 7.59 to claim the top spot for Saturday’s final.

The 2010 championship will resume Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with the #20 weight throw and pole vault from the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.

Fans can follow the Atlantic Sun on Twitter and on Facebook. Visit twitter.com/AtlanticSun to begin receiving updates on conference news, weekly awards, and from A-Sun championships. Atlantic Sun followers with a Facebook account can become a "fan" of the conference by visiting facebook.com/AtlanticSunConference.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.