Mocs Head to Birmingham for SoCon Championships
2/26/2015 2:37:00 PM | Track and Field
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's and women's track teams head to the Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Samford University at the Crossplex in Birmingham, Ala., Friday and Saturday.
Competition begins for Chattanooga with the women's Mile Trials at 1:45 p.m Central Time. Senior Amanda Cotter (Bristol, Conn.) earned a qualifying time of 4:58.6 at the MTSU Invitational and is fourth in the league rankings. Junior Rebecca Greenwall (Bogart, Ga.) ranks ninth in the league with a time of 5:04.8 achieved at the Crossplex at the Samford Invitational two weeks ago. She placed eighth last season at last year's indoor championships.
Also ranking in the Top 20 is sophomore Jessica York (Normandy, Tenn.) with a time of 5:09.23 at the MTSU invitational. Others in the race will be freshman Anna Kate Chance (Columbia, Tenn.), junior Makala Diggs (Box Elder, S.D.) and sophomore Madalyn Garland (Evansville, Tenn.).
The men's Mile trials will follow with sophomore Austin Casassa (Nashville, Tenn.) and senior John Gilpin (Nashville, Tenn.). Gilpin is ranked 17th in the SoCon with his time of 4:17.71 from the MTSU Invitational. Freshman Drake Watson (Gallatin, Tenn.) ranks 18th in the league with a time of 9.00 set at the MTSU Invitational.
Junior DeQuantez Sandifer (Nashville, Tenn.) and sophomore Jasmine Snell (Nashville, Tenn.) will run the men's and women's 400 meter dash set to begin at 4:15 p.m. Central time with the women's race and followed shortly by the men. Both were top 20 finishers at last year's SoCon Championships.
The largest contingency of Chattanooga runners will be in the men's and women's 800 meter run. The women's 800 will begin at 4:45 p.m. CT followed by the men's trials 30 minutes later. Sophomore Maddison Melchionna (Afton, Tenn.) ran a 2:16.08, nearly three seconds off the school record set by current assistant coach Anneli (Uys) Morrison in 2010.
Sophomore Hannah Chamblin (Memphis, Tenn.) ranks 13th in the league with her time of 2:18.3 set at the MTSU Invitational. Also set to compete on Friday is juniors Kiaana Howard (Nashville, Tenn.), Helenka Kis (Columbia, Tenn.) and Diggs and sophomore Joanna Elmore (Clarksville, Tenn.).
On the men's side, junior Marquis Carter (Memphis, Tenn.) ranks fifth among the SoCon runners with a time of 1:53.43 set at the Samford Invitational, less than one second off the school record set in 2002 by Ryan Kendall. Junior Trevor Janssen (Jordan Station, Ontario) is ran a 1:56.93 at the ETSU Invitational and is 12th in the conference standings. Both scored for the Mocs in the event at last year's SoCon championships. Also set to run the 800m is juniors Matthew Marshall (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) and Patrick O'Brien (Chattanooga, Tenn.).
Freshman Jacob Noorbergen (Ooltewah, Tenn.) will lead four Mocs onto the track in the 200 meter dash. He ranks second in the SoCon in the event with a time of 22.06 set at the Samford Invitational, 0.37 seconds off the school mark held by Shoun Habersham since 1990.
Junior Tosin Ayotunde (Ooltewah, Tenn.) ran a 24.17 in the 200m at the MTSU Invitational while junior Austin Ethridge (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) posted a season-best time of 25:32 at the ETSU Invitational. Also slated to run is junior Zack Darby (Knoxville, Tenn.).
Next on the slate is the men's and women's 3000 meter run. Sophomore Paul Stuart (Brentwood, Tenn.) will be the lone male running the event for UTC. He posted the 10th fastest time in the league this season at the Samford Invitational with a time of 8:33.16.
Freshman Emily Drouin (Verona, Ontario) has the seventh best time in the league in the 3000 meter at 10:11.75 set at the Samford Invitational. Junior Keeley Stewart (Winchester, Tenn.) who placed eighth at the SoCon Championships last season is currently listed 15th in the SoCon standings at 10:28.20. Sophomore Katie Ray (Knoxville, Tenn.) is also slated to compete in the event.
The Friday night events will conclude with the men's and women's Distance Medley Relays.
On Saturday the Mocs' events will begin at 11:30 a.m. CT with the finals of the Mile, 60 meter hurdles, 400m, 800m and 200 meter events. The 5000 meter run and the 4x400 meter relays will conclude the Championhips.
Gilpin and Stuart will run the 5K for the men while six Lady Mocs will compete in the event on the women's side. Stewart is ranked ninth in the league standings with a time of 18:20.82 set at the ETSU Invitational while freshman Anna Kate Chance (Columbia, Tenn.) is 12th in the standings with a time of 18:38.85 also at ETSU. Also running will be Cotter, Drouin, sophomores Katie Ray (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Jessica York (Normandy, Tenn.).
The event is free to the public. Live results, daily recaps, daily photos and video highlights can be found at GoMocs.com. Additionally, the finals of each event will be streamed on the SoCon Digital Network.
