Syracuse University
ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Championship
Osazuwa Takes Top Spot Once Again
5/16/2009 7:18:59 PM | Track and Field
PRINCETON, N.J. – Junior Uhunoma Osazuwa stole the show on day two of the ECAC/IC4A Championship by attaining her second consecutive heptathlon title. The 2009 BIG EAST and ECAC heptathlon champion held the lead yesterday after winning both the high jump (1.72m) and 200-meter dash (24.59). Osazuwa clung onto a narrow 71-point lead against the College of William and Mary's Katie Guevel, but her first-place mark of 5.87m in the long jump on Saturday sealed the crown for the Las Vegas native. She finished with an NCAA Provisional-qualifying total of 5,258 points for her highest aggregate of the season.
Osazuwa finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (14.44), fifth in the 800-meter run (2:28.69), eighth in the shot put (10.45m) and ninth in the javelin toss (29.06m).
In addition to her championship routine, Osazuwa qualified for the semi-finals of the 100-meter hurdles with a 10th-place time of 14.42. In the next heat, she finished one spot outside of the top eight after shaving off almost four one-hundredths of a second in 14.03.
Syracuse set itself up for a promising final day of competition. Sophomore Jarret Eaton beat out 29 others for the fastest preliminary mark in the 110-meter hurdles with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 14.06. Senior Terry Marshall posted a sixth-place mark of 14.09 to race with Eaton in tomorrow's final. The fourth-year hurdler's mark was completed in NCAA Regional-standard time and was his fastest clip of the outdoor season. Freshman Matt Callanan recorded a time of 15.14 in his first IC4A trial for 28th place.
Eaton was also part of the 4 x 100-meter relay preliminary group that finished in second place ahead of 25 others teams. Sophomore Sham Lewis, junior Antoine Clark and senior Bernard Bush banded together for a time of 40.77, marking SU's fastest relay time this year. The Orange will combat Hampton University as the Pirates logged the fastest time of 40.64 at Princeton's Weaver Track & Field.
Bush put up another fine showing in the long jump, bringing home third place with his NCAA Regional-qualifying leap of 7.50m. Bush's bronze performance represents a personal best.
Lewis, Clark and Bush all vied for a spot in tomorrow's 100-meter dash finals, but none made their way into the top eight. Lewis registered the fastest Orange time of 10.80 for 17th while Bush was clocked in 10.93 for 25th and Clark finished one spot behind in 26th with a mark of 10.96.
Senior Skyy Simmons took part in the 400-meter preliminaries, but did qualify for the finals as he closed out the day with a time of 47.87 in 15th.
In the women's 400-meter prelim, senior Lauren McClenney finished her final ECAC race in 28th with a time of 56.69.
Sophomore Lareea Chisholm turned in a time of 12.20 for 22nd place in the 100-meter dash and 24.87 for 21st in the 200-meter trial.
With Osazuwa's 10-point tally in the heptathlon and sophomore Catherine DeSarle's third-place, school record time of 16:42.20 in the 5,000-meter run on Friday night, the SU women soared to second place with 18 points. Duke University holds a narrow one-point edge heading into the final day. The men are in sixth place with16 points and looking to make up some ground on Liberty University through the 110-meter hurdles and 4 x 100-meter relay on Sunday. The Flames are on top with 26 points.
