Category | Sports

Owls have strong showing at Niswonger Invitational

Published on January 26, 2010 by Brian C. Bell

The KSU men’s and women’s track and field teams travelled to Johnson City, Tenn. last weekend to compete in the Niswonger Invitational. The host school, East Tennessee State University, is the home of the 2010 Atlantic Sun indoor track and field championships in February, but the Owls decided to turn in a number of top ten finishes a month early.

Senior Joshua McNair finished second in the weight throw with a throw of 59′ 4.75,” just short of his current school record, in addition to a second-place finish in the shotput.

“Coming into it I didn’t feel like I was 100 percent,” McNair said. “Second place is good, but for me, it’s not about the place, it’s about distance, so I should be able to get a couple feet better.”

The women also competed in the throwing events in Johnson City. Senior Chiquita Hawthorne set a school record in the shotput with her throw of 41′ 8.5″ on Friday, topping the former record by nearly three feet.

The jumping events also fell in favor of KSU. Led by senior Jakia Ragland, sophomore Suzzette Van-Lare and junior Jill Arthur, the Owls took top ten finishes in the triple jump, high jump and pole vault.

Ragland and Van-Lare finished fourth and sixth in the long jump by clearing 5′ 5.25″ and 5′ 3.25″ respectively and Arthur finished fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 39′ 3.25″. Freshman pole vaulter Michelle Quimby recorded a ninth place finish by clearing a height of 10′ 10″.

Ragland, who holds the school record in the high jump, was pleased with her fourth place finish at the Niswonger.

“This was a good start for me, but I know that my results can be a lot better if I continue to work on what I’m working on,” Ragland said. “Now that my technique is almost where it needs to be, I can start to increase the heights that I jump.”

Many Owls recorded top ten finishes, including sophomore Victoria Jackson and freshman Travis Benton. Both Jackson and Benton set two school records in Johnson City.

Jackson posted KSU record times of 7.86 and 25.26 seconds in the 60 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles, while her counterpart Benton set records with his 6.92-second finish in the 60 meter dash and a 200 meter dash time of 22.25 seconds. Junior Antonio Logan finished with a time of 7.07 seconds.

Other notable finishes for the Owls included a second place finish for freshman hurdler Tremaine Grant in the 60 meter hurdles, senior Erin Sutton’s sixth place finish in the 5000 meter run and the first place finish of sophomore distance runner Jakko Nieminen in the 3000 meter run, the lone win for the Owls.

The Owls returned with twenty-two total top ten finishes, five new school records and much needed knowledge of the ETSU facility that can be used to better prepare for the A-Sun Indoor Championships at the end of February.

“It was great to see the facility where we will be competing for a conference championship a month from now. It was great to get a feel for what I’ll be seeing at conference at the actual box I’ll be throwing in. I was happy with how I performed, but now I know exactly the type of conditions I’ll be throwing in come conference time,” Hawthorne said.

The Owls will compete in duals against North Florida, Jacksonville and Florida Atlantic on Jan. 31 in Jacksonville, Fla.