2008 Woodie Awards
Lady Buffs dominate Tri-Conference meet
Bryan Mand
Issue date: 5/2/08 Section: Sports
On April 18 and 19, the men's and women's track and field teams competed in the Tri-Conference Track and Field Championships, hosted by Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C.
The women's team won the event, scoring 160 points total.
Conference rival King College won the men's event, but the Milligan men finished 10th overall, scoring 26.5 points.
Sophomore Rebecca McDowell led the Milligan women's sweep of the 10,000 meters, one of three on the day. Finishing out the top four were junior Ashley Pearce, senior Erika Fox and junior Emily Schmitt, respectively.
Senior MacKenzie LaBonte won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Teammate Fox earned another third place, and junior Kim Hogan finished eighth.
The Lady Buffs again took the top four spots in the 1500-meter run. Junior Jacklyn Talbert finished first, followed by senior Brittany Bales, junior Nicole Moore and LaBonte.
In the 400-meter dash, seniors Bales and Kortney Goulds captured fourth and eighth place, respectively.
Talbert recorded another first-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16:19. Sophomore Shanna Raines finished second. Freshman Kayla Moody and Moore rounded out the top five in the event.
"Right now I am trying to take my training to the next level by working even harder in everyday practices and pushing myself to stay with my teammates," said Moody.
In the women's 5,000 meters, the Lady Buffs recorded their final sweep of the day. Pearce won the event, followed by McDowell, Schmitt and freshman Lili Zaldana. In the 4 x 400-meter relay, the Lady Buffs finished third overall.
For the field events, Bates also placed third in the women's triple jump at 9.84 meters.
After finishing second in the shot put, freshman Chelsea Leavell, won the discus throw with a throw of 36.84 meters, followed by freshman Tara Moore, who launched the discus 27.78 meters to finish fifth.
As a team, the Milligan men finished seventh in the 4 x 100-meter relay. Juniors Wegene Degefa and Will Frye took fifth and eighth place, respectively, in the 10,000-meter run.
"My coach had me train through the meet and we weren't really worried about how fast I ran," said Frye. "He just wanted me to give a good effort and get a good workout in. I ended up with a personal record in the 10k."
In the 1,500-meter run, Degefa placed third with a time of 4:08:45, while freshman Michael Kaal finished ninth.
Degefa earned another third-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:53:15.
Junior Jamal Phelps placed sixth in the long jump with a jump of 6.52 meters.
In the discus throw, freshman Mike Kimson garnered a second-place finish at 39.83 meters.
Kimson then placed fourth in the javelin throw with a distance of 44.90 meters.
Both squads will travel to Clemson, S.C., for the Orange and Purple Classic on May 10 and then to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational May 16-17, before heading to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in St. Louis to be held May 22-24.
The women's team won the event, scoring 160 points total.
Conference rival King College won the men's event, but the Milligan men finished 10th overall, scoring 26.5 points.
Sophomore Rebecca McDowell led the Milligan women's sweep of the 10,000 meters, one of three on the day. Finishing out the top four were junior Ashley Pearce, senior Erika Fox and junior Emily Schmitt, respectively.
Senior MacKenzie LaBonte won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Teammate Fox earned another third place, and junior Kim Hogan finished eighth.
The Lady Buffs again took the top four spots in the 1500-meter run. Junior Jacklyn Talbert finished first, followed by senior Brittany Bales, junior Nicole Moore and LaBonte.
In the 400-meter dash, seniors Bales and Kortney Goulds captured fourth and eighth place, respectively.
Talbert recorded another first-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2:16:19. Sophomore Shanna Raines finished second. Freshman Kayla Moody and Moore rounded out the top five in the event.
"Right now I am trying to take my training to the next level by working even harder in everyday practices and pushing myself to stay with my teammates," said Moody.
In the women's 5,000 meters, the Lady Buffs recorded their final sweep of the day. Pearce won the event, followed by McDowell, Schmitt and freshman Lili Zaldana. In the 4 x 400-meter relay, the Lady Buffs finished third overall.
For the field events, Bates also placed third in the women's triple jump at 9.84 meters.
After finishing second in the shot put, freshman Chelsea Leavell, won the discus throw with a throw of 36.84 meters, followed by freshman Tara Moore, who launched the discus 27.78 meters to finish fifth.
As a team, the Milligan men finished seventh in the 4 x 100-meter relay. Juniors Wegene Degefa and Will Frye took fifth and eighth place, respectively, in the 10,000-meter run.
"My coach had me train through the meet and we weren't really worried about how fast I ran," said Frye. "He just wanted me to give a good effort and get a good workout in. I ended up with a personal record in the 10k."
In the 1,500-meter run, Degefa placed third with a time of 4:08:45, while freshman Michael Kaal finished ninth.
Degefa earned another third-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:53:15.
Junior Jamal Phelps placed sixth in the long jump with a jump of 6.52 meters.
In the discus throw, freshman Mike Kimson garnered a second-place finish at 39.83 meters.
Kimson then placed fourth in the javelin throw with a distance of 44.90 meters.
Both squads will travel to Clemson, S.C., for the Orange and Purple Classic on May 10 and then to Atlanta for the Yellow Jacket Invitational May 16-17, before heading to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in St. Louis to be held May 22-24.
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