Chamblin Earns All-Conference at SoCon Championship

Friday, May 13

Cullowhee, NC

All Day

Chattanooga

Southern Conference - Day Two

Results (html)Results (pdf)

Hannah Chamblin (6) was runner-up in the 800 meter

Photo by: SoConSports.com

5/13/2016 7:21:00 PM | Cross Country & Track & Field

By: Anne Wehunt

CULLOWHEE, N.C. --- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women's track team closed out the Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship with a sixth place finish.

Sophomore Hannah Chamblin (Memphis, Tenn.) earned all-conference honors Friday with a second place finish in the women's 800 meter run. She ran the distance in a time of 2:14.37. The favorite for the race, Maddison Melchionna, was penalized a false start and disqualified.

"Hannah ran a really good race," Chattanooga head coach Bill Gautier said. "She saw her teammate get disqualified and had to regroup. She did a great job, but fell at the end and went down. She had a really good chance of winning.

"In all my years of coaching, I've never seen anyone false start the 800. They brought everyone to the line but made them wait and a couple of runners moved and she moved and stepped over the line. It's really tough on her. She had a great year and this was her chance. I'm very proud of her."

Junior Jessica York (Normandy, Tenn.) finished fourth in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:37.81 to get the Mocs started.

"Jessie ran the race of her life," Gautier said. "We were all positive and fired up since it was the first race today."

Also taking fourth for UTC was junior Teghan Henderson (Pickering, Ontario) in the 5000 meter race. She finished with a time of 17:28.69.

"Teghan led for 8-10 laps," Gautier said. "No one would pass her. After the race she had yesterday in the 10,000 meter all the coaches were telling their runners to stay behind her, even when I told her to slow down."

Senior Kiaana Howard (Nashville, Tenn.) scored for the Mocs in her final season, placing seventh in the 400 meter Dash. She finished with a time of 58.24. Howard has been out most of the season with injuries.

"She had a great race. She wasn't that far off her best time, they just ran fast."

The women's 4x400 meter relay team closed out the meet placing fifth with a time of 3:56.77. Howard led off and passed off the Chamblin. However, there was a tangle at the exchange between Chamblin and freshman Haley Morris (Knoxville, Tenn.).

"Hannah was third and they didn't move Haley down to that lane so she ran into another runner trying to get over Haley. Haley had to start from a stand still because there were others in front of her and then she hit someone when she got started."

After her turn around the track she passed it off to Melchionna for the finish. UTC was just 0.25 seconds behind Wofford for fourth and outpaced The Citadel.

"Overall, it was a very good day for us and a good meet overall," Gautier said. "If the 800 had gone as we had hoped, it was the difference between sixth and fourth."

Western Carolina swept the championships for the first time since 2013. The men finished with 245 points, 93 ahead of runner-up VMI. The Catamount women finished with 255 points, just 3.5 points ahead of Samford. The title came down to the 4x400 meter relay. It is the women's second straight title and ninth overall.

VMI's Jordan White was named the SoCon Athlete of the Year while Samford's Sarah Sanford and WCU's Hailey Cook shared the title on the women's side.

Women's results – Day 2
1. Western Carolina – 255 points
2. Samford – 251.1
3. ETSU – 91.5
4. Furman – 45
5. VMI – 44
6. Chattanooga – 39
7. Wofford – 37
8. The Citadel – 29
9. Mercer – 13
10. UNCG – 7

Women's All-Conference – Day 1
Women's 800m – final
Hannah Chamblin, Chattanooga

1500m final
4	Jessica York	4:37.81	5 pts

400m final
7	Kiaana Howard	58.24	2 pts

800m final
2	Hannah Chamblin (all-conference)	2:14.37	8 pts
--	Maddison Melchionna	FS

5000m final
4	Teghan Henderson	17:28.69	5 pts
16	Anna Kate Chance	19:14.87
--	Jessica York	DNF

4x400m final
5	Chattanooga	3:56.77	4 pts
	Kiaana Howard, Hannah Chamblin, Haley Morris, Maddison Melchionna