Syracuse University
BIG EAST Outdoor Championship
SU Seeks Success at BIG EAST Meet
4/29/2009 12:40:23 PM | Track and Field
Championship Central
Order of Events: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
Men's Outdoor Marks | Women's Outdoor Marks
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange track & field team initiates its championship season when Syracuse takes part in the 2009 BIG EAST Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Friday, May 1, hosted by Villanova at Jumbo Elliot Track. The Orange will send 33 student-athletes, including 18 men and 15 women, to compete in 18 different events throughout the three-day affair.
At last year's outdoor championship, Syracuse boasted three individual champions in Kyle Heath (3,000-meter steeplechase), Aulton Kohn (100-meter dash) and Jillian Drouin (two-time defending heptathlon champion).
Heath returns to defend his steeplechase crown after posting a winning clip of 8:57.39 in last year's race. He also garnered All-BIG EAST laurels last season in the 5,000-meter run after a second-place showing of 14:26.79. Heath has run in two steeplechases this season, winning one (Princeton Larry Ellis Invite – 8:51.39) and finishing second to a professional harrier at Stanford (Stanford Invite – 8:40.89).
Following last season's BIG EAST title, the senior went on to record to the steeplechase school record at the NCAA Outdoor Championship with a sixth-place performance of 8:38.03. With that feat, the Farmington, N.Y. native became SU's first distance runner All-American since Jim O'Connell in 1983.
Overall, Syracuse secured nine all-BIG EAST performers last year. Aside from Heath, sophomore Flings Owusu-Agyapong is SU's other returnee and looks to improve upon her third-place performance of 11.65 in the 100-meter dash at last year's championship.
Senior Michael LeBlanc was the 2007 BIG EAST Outdoor Champion in the 100-meter dash, but had to sit out last season due to injury. The senior sprinter responded with a 60-meter indoor title this winter and looks to capture his fourth individual championship this weekend (2008 BIG EAST 60-meter Indoor Champ, 2007 BIG EAST 100-meter Outdoor Champ, 2007 IC4A 55-meter Indoor Champ).
The 2009 BIG EAST Outdoor Championship will be video streamed live on BIGEAST.tv. The coverage begins on Friday at 11:00 a.m. with the men's 100-meter dash as part of the decathlon. Watch here
SPRINTS
Six Orange men will vie for the either the 100-, 200- or 400-meter dash crowns. LeBlanc has his second outdoor conference championship in sights after winning the UNC Invite with an IC4A-qualifying mark of 10.60. LeBlanc will also line up in the 200-meter dash with four other teammates.
Senior Antoine Clark recorded SU's second-swiftest time of 10.65 to qualify while sophomore Sham Lewis earned a spot on the line after clocking a time of 10.73 at the UNC Invite. Lewis will also sprint the half lap in the 200-meter dash after his mark of 22.08 at UNC. Sophomore Jarret Eaton will participate in both the 100- and 200-meter dash after his qualifying times of 10.81 and 21.90, respectively. Senior Terry Marshall posted Syracuse's fastest 200-meter time of 21.66 at Princeton to become an early favorite while classmate Skyy Simmons registered three BIG EAST-qualifying times to partake in the same race.
The 4 x 100-meter relay team of LeBlanc, Clark, Lewis and senior Bernard Bush qualified two times this season to compete at the BIG EAST Championship, with their fastest time coming at the Princeton Larry Ellis Invite of 40.99.
Two women will spread their talents out across the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes. Owusu-Agyapong notched NCAA-Regional qualifying clips in the 100-meter at UNC and FSU of 11.66 and 11.75, respectively, while sophomore Lareea Chisholm toes the line with her qualifying mark of 12.08. Chisholm owns SU's fastest 200-meter time (24.54) after last week's win at Cornell while Owusu-Agyapong crossed the line in 24.58 for a shot at the title. Senior Lauren McClenney will represent SU's efforts in the 400-meter dash after he qualifying clip of 55.66 at Princeton two weeks ago.
HURDLES
Freshman Matthew Callanan and senior Mike Chitro will join Eaton and Marshall on the line in the 110-meter hurdles. Eaton and Marshall tallied respective NCAA Regional-qualifying times of 13.99 and 14.29 at Princeton while Callanan's seventh-place finish of 14.76 yielded a spot in the championship. Chitro qualified with a clip of 15.25 at Princeton, as well. Eaton represented SU as one of two hurdlers at the NCAA Indoor Championship this winter.
Junior Uhunoma Osazuwa's first-place performance in the 100-meter hurdles at Princeton was completed in NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 13.85.
DISTANCE
Eight women and six men will compete in five distance events this weekend. Heath treks to the City of Brotherly Love as the favorite in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, but will have to fight off teammates junior Curtis Bixler, freshman Pat Dupont and sophomore Michael Brocks. Bixler turned in SU's third fastest mark of 9:04.29 for fourth at Princeton while Dupont's clip of 9:07.59 at the Penn Relays was good enough for second in the talent-rich field. Brocks acts as SU's fourth steeplechaser after his qualifying time of 9:16.29 at Princeton.
In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, newcomer Natalie Busby directs the Orange effort after she set the school record two weeks ago at Princeton with her time of 10:33.45. Sophomore Rebekah MacKay finished on her teammate's heels with a time of 10:36.04 in the same contest while freshman Heather Stephens broke the tape in seventh place in 10:39.77 for SU's third NCAA Regional-qualifying time this season. Junior Stefanie Slekis returns to the steeplechase BIG EAST Championship after notching a time of 10:53.05 while classmate Lynne Mundy made the grade the second weekend of the season with a mark of 11:12.65 in New Jersey.
Sophomores Catherine DeSarle, Katie Hursey and Liz McCarter all became eligible for the women's 1,500-meter challenge after hitting times of 4:29.76, 4:31.38 and 4:34.28, in that order.
In the women's 5,000-meter run, DeSarle reset the school record in the opening weekend at Stanford with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 16:44.61 whereas Hursey tallied a time of 16:46.93 in the same competition. Stephens and MacKay will join the speedy sophomores with their qualifying clips of 17:15.30 and 17:52.26.
Freshman Griff Graves and sophomore Steve Weeks posted IC4A-qualifying times in the 5K to join their four female counterparts at Villanova. Graves put up the quickest time of 14:20.71 at Princeton while Weeks became entitled after his measurement of 14:23.45 in the same race.
FIELD
Five men and four women look to make their presence felt in the field portion of the competition. Osazuwa is one of the most highly touted entrants in the heptathlon after she captured first place at Florida State with her ECAC-qualifying point total of 4,797. Osazwua looks to fill the shoes of All-American and three-time BIG EAST Champion Jillian Drouin. Osazuwa's third-place mark of 1.70m in the high jump at last weekend's Penn Relays earned her the right to compete in that event, as well.
Senior Melissa Romero will join Osazuwa after she cleared the same height at Princeton two weekends ago. Freshman Ieva Staponkute makes her debut in the triple jump after she recorded a second-place combination of 12.06m to qualify her for the ECAC Championship in two weeks. Junior Lorraine Hill emerged victoriously twice in the javelin toss this year, winning with lengths of 43.05m at North Carolina and 38.70m at Florida State. Hill has cleared ECAC standards thrice this year with marks of 43.05m, 42.49m and 41.00m.
Bush leads the men's efforts in the long jump as he's qualified for the IC4A's on three separate occasions and the NCAA Regional twice. Bush's best mark of the season came last weekend at the Penn Relays after he leapt for 7.45m in third place. Sophomores Victor Nwosu will join Bush after he posted a fourth-place finish of 7.13m at last weekend's Cornell Big Red Invitational.
Sophomores Kwaku Boah is one of three male throwers to compete this weekend. Boah's furthest mark in the shot put came in Chapel Hill, N.C. after he cleared 15.54m. In the hammer throw, Boah became eligible at the Cortland Classic with his pitch of 51.36m for third.
Freshman Mark Melilli will compete in the javelin throw after his third-place laurels of 54.56m at Cornell last weekend while Chitro's chuck of 42.41m in Chapel Hill made him an entrant in this year's discus throw.
