April 14, 2007
DENTON, Texas - There were going to be no records or NCAA qualifying marks on Saturday as temperatures resembled early February than the weekend after Easter.
UT Arlington Head Track and Field John Sauerhage let Mother Nature win the North Texas Classic as he and the rest of the coaching staff kept their elite athletes off the track to avoid injuries less than a month away for the 2007 Southland Conference Track and Field Championships, May 5-7, in Nacogdoches.
With the names of Coby Morrison, Jon McDowell, Kourtnee Jones and Jared Connaughton - a seniors who had already qualified for the NCAA Regionals, the North Texas Classic was almost used as a tune up for some athletes and a "last chance meet" for other looking to improve and qualify for the NCAAs.
Andrew Duncan III had a big day. He qualified for the NCAA region meet in the triple jump with a winning leap of 49-feet, 11-inches. He had a season-best mark of 6-08.75 in the high jump for second place and was fourth in the long jump with 21-07.25.
Tristen Williams took second place in both the long jump (20-10-00) and the triple jump (45-01.75).
In the pole vault, Jared Tuel won with a height of 15-01. Cory Carswell and Wade Hayes tied for second with a height of 14-01.25.
David Mannering placed fourth in the hammer with a toss of 138-feet, 08-inches.
Tim Thompson was seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a 15.42.
For the women, senior Linda Rosema and freshman Emma Stahlberg finished 2-3 in the hammer. Rosema tossed the hammer 168-00 and Stahlberg set a personal-best mark of 159-01. Rosema also took third in the shot put with a put of 42-05.50.
In the pole vault, Vanessa Maida led a trio of vaulters with a height of 11-11.75 for second place. Chelsea Pope (10-00) was fifth and Lauren Marks (9-06.25) finished seventh.
Freshman Chamberlain Garber was eighth in the 400 meters with a 59.24.
Freshman Jace Koelzer was fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (15.25) and Kay Dishmon took sixth with a 16.30.
In the 100 meters, freshman Jasmine Walls finished fifth with a 12.04 and Shana Rash was eighth with a 12.14. Kim Hargers just missed scoring points with a 12.18.
The distance runners fared well in the cooler temperatures.
Senior Ivorita Taylor took second place in both the 800 meters and the 1,500-meter runs. She clocked a time of 2:15.64 in the 800 and 4:49.35 in the 1,500. Carranda Mose was third in the 1,500 with a 4:50.81. Redshirt freshman Caroline Erlingson took seventh in the 800 meters with a 2:27.26.
Ozie Hood was fifth in the men's 1,500 meters with a 4:06.81. Ivan Pinal ran a season-best time of 9:00.02 for fourth place in the 3,000 meters.
Both men's and women's track and field squad will compete in their final meet before the conference tournament when they travel to the TCU Invitational, April 21.
