Friday, April 15, 2011

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kennesaw State leads after the first day of competition at the 2011 Atlantic Sun Conference Outdoor Women’s Track and Field Championship with 52 points. The Owls scored in all events and were led by Mackenzie Howe’s 10,000-meter record-breaking title run.

Howe won her third-consecutive 10,000m A-Sun title with a conference meet record time of 35.07.59. She held the previous record of 35:16.96, which she set last season.

The Owls secured second and third place finishes in the pole vault. Michelle Quimby hit a height of 3.55m while Teresa Smith had a mark of 3.40m.

Host team, UNF, sits in second with 48 points after claiming wins in both the long jump and pole vault. In the long jump, Jennifer Smyth hit a distance of 5.78m. UNF also took third place in the event as Jasmine Jackson notched a distance of 5.61m.

In the pole vault, UNF's Christina King took the crown with an A-Sun record-tying height of 3.70m. King also took the pole vault title at the indoor championship meet earlier this year. UNF also scored in the fourth, fifth and sixth place with Caleigh Boyington (3.40m), Cassie Bruce (3.25m) and Chelsea Chandler (3.25m), respectively.

JU claimed the top spot in the hammer throw as Ronnisha Hall threw a distance of 51.40m to give the Dolphins their first points of the meet. Hall scored first-place points for the Dolphins in the shot put as well with an A-Sun record-setting throw of 14.32m. The Dolphins are third at the end of day one with 38 points.

Kennesaw State’s Naomi Mack opened her pursuit for a back-to-back heptathlon title by compiling 2834 points with wins in the 100-meter hurdles and shot put to build a 164-point lead with three events remaining tomorrow.

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Rayanna Johnson from Jacksonville sits in second place with 2,670 points, while her teammate raced to first in the 200m dash and enters day two in fourth place. Leah Oakhill earned the high lump portion with her top height of 5’5 to take third place.

Day two action gets underway tomorrow with the conclusion of the heptathlon at 10 a.m. starting with the long jump.

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