The Johnsonian

            The Winthrop University men's and women's track teams had one of their strongest showings in years with a trio of conference champions, several school records and a Big South Conference record at the Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships held last weekend in Clemson, SC.

            The Lady Eagles posted a pair of school records, one conference champion and three all-conference performances on the way to a solid fourth place finish.

            Senior Nicole Tucker had her best meet as an Eagle as she posted an impressive win at the 60-meter dash. After coming into the meet seeded outside of the top eight, she eclipsed the field, finishing in 7.67 seconds. Tucker performed more magic in the 200-meters where she set a personal best by more than a half second, 25.57 seconds, in order to finish fifth. Tucker also bumped up in the long jump, where she was not seeded in the top five and finished third earning her second all-conference honor with a near school record jump of 5.63 meters.

            Junior Sara Lewis collected the first of the Eagles school records in the shot put with a throw of 13.87 meters. Her throw allowed her to edge out two other competitors by less than three inches for second place as Lewis garnered her first all-Big South selection.

            The Eagles other school record came in the weight throw, where junior Amanda Bolt came storming out of the first flight with a school record of 14.92 meters, good enough for seventh place and bettering her own school record.

            Senior Carrie Selmer may have had the best all-around meet as she placed in the top five in a brutal distance triple.

            Selmer was fourth in the 3000 meters in a personal best time of 10:13.75. She also sported a personal best time in the 5000 meters in 17:51.01, finishing fourth, then ended her weekend with a fifth place finish in the mile with a time of 5:07.20. She was also named the Big South Scholar Athlete of the Year for indoor track. In the fall, she was named the Scholar Athlete of the Year in cross-country.

            The remainder of the Eagle distance crew stepped up with a fifth place finish in the distance medley relay as the team of Megan Volkart, Dee Dee Walker, Amy Rundio and Leslie Horn crossed the line in 12:45.06.

            Several freshmen had excellent performances for Winthrop as Shardall Twyman took home a sixth place in the 60-meter dash. Ashley Howard bolstered Lewis' performance in the shot put with a sixth place throw of 12.81 meters. Amami Antia-Obong gutted out a tough seventh place finish in the pentathlon while Volkart, another freshman, posted a seventh place finish in the 800.

            Senior Maggie O'Rourke led the Eagle multi-eventers with a sixth place finish in the pentathlon. She scored 2651 points.

            The men's squad had fewer, but no less impressive, performances on their way to a sixth place finish.

            Sophomore Kandrick Cooper proved his dominance as the top hurdler in the Big South, blasting his way to the 60 meter hurdle championship with a time of 8.00 seconds, more than .4 seconds ahead of the field and good enough for another Big South Conference record, breaking his own one-year-old mark.

            The distance medley relay team of Justin Meade, Brandon Galbraith, Derrick Zinnerman and Brad Orr took on all challengers and topped the field in a near school record time of 10:18.53. Meade was also named to the Big South All-Academic Team.

            Sophomore Daryl Green had a pair of great performances as he took home all-Big South honors with a second place in the 400 meters in a time of 49.14 seconds. Green just missed the podium with a fifth place finish in the 200 meters in 22.38 seconds.

            Sophomore Brad Orr followed up his Distance Medley Relay performance with a fine fourth place finish in the mile in 4:18.04, while Zinnerman also back up his DMR with a seventh place finish in the 800 meters in 1:58.87.

            Freshman Chris Ariail continued a fine rookie campaign in the pole vault, finishing fourth by clearing 13 feet. Fellow freshman Micah Poole almost joined the school record parade by finishing sixth in the weight throw with a toss of 14.37 meters, less than two inches short of the school record.

            The Big South Championships end the Eagles season. They will open the outdoor season March 17 at the Alabama Relays.

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