North Carolina State University Athletics
Track and Field to Compete at ACC Championships
2/22/2007 12:00:00 AM | Track
Raleigh, N.C. – The NC State track and field squads will be heading to Clemson, S.C., to compete at the 2007 Indoor ACC Championships this weekend. The meet will be held both Friday and Saturday at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex, and the Pack will be sending 21 male athletes and 17 female athletes to compete.
The NC State women’s team will be led by its distance runners, as the Pack has five runners in the 3,000 meters and four in the 5,000 meters. Julia Lucas is on of the top candidates to earn an ACC title, as she will race in both the 3,000 meters and the 5,000 meters. Lucas earned All-ACC honors last season in the 5,000 meters, and she currently has the fourth-fasters time nationally in the 3,000 meters (9:03.47) with is 12 seconds better than any other ACC time. Another pair of distance runners appear in the ACC Top-10 List this week, with Jemissa Hess ranking eight in the mile, and Kristina Roth have the ninth-best time in the 3,000 meters. Hess will also compete in the 3,000 meters, an event she earned All-ACC honors for last season.
In the sprints, Joya Rodgers will run in both the 60 meters and the 200 meters. Rodgers currently has the sixth-best mark in the ACC in the 60 meters, running a season-best 7.55.
In the field events, Mattie Bethea currently ranks in the ACC’s Top-10 in three different events, and will be competing in all three this weekend. Bethea has the fifth-best mark in the pentathlon this season, and ranks eighth in the high jump and 10th in the long jump. DeMiracle Washington will jump in both the long jump and the triple jump, and she has the sixth-best leap in the triple jump in the ACC this season.
The men’s team has the potential to earn All-ACC honors in the sprints, distance races, throws and the jumps.
Dexter Adams was the long jump champion at last years ACC Championships, he will be looking to repeat that performance as he competes in both the long jump and the triple jump. Adams currently has the second-best mark in the long jump in the ACC this season, and the sixth-best in the triple jump. Another strong performer in the jumps is Michael Hill, who ranks fifth in the triple jump and seventh in the high jump, two of the three events he will be competing in.
In the throws, the Wolfpack is lead by two performers. Mitchell Pope broke a school record that stood since 1977 in the shot put, and his top throw this season is third nationally (64’08.75”). Last season, Pope earned All-ACC honors in the shot put, and he is also fifth in the ACC this season in the shot put. Chris Crawford ranks fourth in the weight throw and fifth in the shot put in the ACC’s Top-10 List this week.
A pair of distance runners earned All-ACC honors last season, as will be competing those same events. John Crews won All-ACC honors last season in the 5,000 meters and will be running that event again as well as the 3,000 meters. Tibor Vegh earned All-ACC honors in the 3,000 meters last year, and his best time in that event this season is ninth-best in the conference.
Gavin Coombs is another runner to look out for, as his time in the mile is currently the second-best in the ACC, and he will also be competing in the 3,000 meters.
Freshman sprinter A’Tolani Akinkuotu earlier this season broke the school record in the 60 meters, and his time of 6.76 is the sixth-best mark in the ACC this season. Fellow sprinter Reggie Reese will be running in two races that he currently ranks in the top-10 in the ACC in, the 200 meters (eighth) and the 60 meters (10th).
For more information about the ACC Championships log onto: http://www.theacc.com/sports/c-track/07-itf-championship.html. Live results can be found at: http://www.flashresults.com/2007_Meets/Indoor/ACC.
