Saturday, February 27, 2010

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Jacksonville won the first six events held Saturday on the David E. Walker Track inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center to run away with a fifth straight Atlantic Sun Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championship.

The Dolphins quickly erased Kennesaw State’s six-point day one advantage, sweeping the podium in the day’s first two track events. Freshman Joane Pierre led a 1-2-3-4 finish for Jacksonville in the mile, followed by Alyssa Deal, Anastasia Fokina and Alison Ritter. Stacey Young added her second title of the Championships by winning the 60-meter hurdles. Tiffany Bromfield took second, followed by J'Zotta Rolle.

Danielle Davenport and Unique Singleton continued building the Jacksonville advantage, placing first and third in the 400-meter dash. Davenport’s winning time of 55.73 seconds tied Singleton’s 2008 winning time as the second-fastest in Championship history. Louise Kiernan provided the fourth consecutive Dolphin win on the track as she paired with Charlene Charles for a 1-2 finish in the 60-meter dash.

Pierre won her second event of meet, taking the 800-meter run in a time of 2:14.66, the fastest time at the A-Sun Championships since FAU’s Raynell Hagberg won the first edition of the race in 2:11.61, in 2006. Kiernan headed up the second 1-2-3-4 finish of the day for the Dolphins, taking the 200-meter dash with a winning time of 24.16 seconds.

Like many times throughout Saturday, a Dolphins sweep highlighted the conference’s superlative awards. Charles claimed MVP, Most Outstanding Freshman of the Year and Most Outstanding Field Performer. Pierre won Most Outstanding Track Performer and head coach Ron Grigg won his fifth Coach of the Year award.

Other winners included ETSU’s Zachlynn Blackburn winning her second weight throw in three years; UNF’s Shelby Kittrell turned in the fastest 5,000-meter time in four years, winning in 17:15.09. Kittrell’s teammate, Christina King claimed victory in the pole vault and Campbell freshman Nadia Natt took home gold in the triple jump, leaping 12.11m.

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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.