University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Outdoor Championships
Tar Heel Women In First After Day Two Of ACCs
April 17, 2009 | Track & Field
April 17, 2009
MIAMI - Gabby Gioia made a big push on the final day of the heptathlon to claim the ACC title on the second day of the ACC Championships in Miami, Fla. Friday afternoon as she helped pace the Tar Heel women to 52 team points and first place. The Tar Heel men currently sit in fourth place with 38 points after two days of competition. Action resumes at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the final day of competition.
Gioia opened the day with the top mark in the long jump as she cleared 18-11 3/4 for 783 points before picking up another 700-plus point total in the javelin. She threw the javelin 139-2 for 714 points giving herself an 85 point lead heading into the final event where she finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.99 for 837 more points. Gioia finished with 5,334 total points, the second-highest total in school history as the sophomore claimed her first ACC title. Joining Gioia on the podium was Alexandra Coppadge who held on for third place with a total of 5,144 and six team points.
The multi events had a strong Carolina feel as the trio of Mateo Sossah, Daniel Keller and Matthew Villemain all scored in the decathlon with Sossah and Keller finishing 1-2 and setting new personal bests. Sossah took the top spot with 7,821 points the third-highest total in school history, while Keller was right on his tail the entire time finishing with 7,523 points. Villemain added four team points with a fifth-place showing tallying 6,440 points.
Freshman Becky O'Brien earned a fourth-place finish in the shot put as she tallied a top throw of 50-8 3/4 for four team points. A pair of freshmen turned in scoring performances in the women's long jump as well when Jacinda Evans cleared 20-3 3/4 for fourth place while Tyler Ford had a top jump of 20-1 for sixth place as the duo each earned regional marks. Gioia fresh off an ACC title just missed scoring in the long jump with a ninth place finish.
Patience Coleman joined Gioia with an ACC title when she cleared a regional mark of 5-10 in the high jump to claim the title by an inch and a quarter. In the lone track final of the day senior Addie Bracy closed out her ACC career with a new personal best in the steeplechase as she finished second overall for eight team points.
In the men's finals on Friday, freshman Kwabena Keene finished eighth overall in the shot put with a top throw of 54-2 3/4 in his second to last attempt of the day. The Carolina long jumpers turned in solid performances on the day as Austin Davis set a new personal best with a top leap of 24-9 for third place and All-ACC honors. Joining Davis with a scoring mark was Edward Baldwin III who cleared 24-0 3/4 for seventh place and a pair of points. Jeremy Cramer closed out the day's events in the steeplechase as he finished seventh overall in a time of 9:23.84.
The Tar Heel women had nine athletes finish in the top eight or 12 to advance to Saturday's final events on the track, while the men will send five to finals.
Freshman Ashley Verplank and sophomore Callan Fike each earned a trip in the women's 1500-meter run with Verplank turning in a time of 4:33.76, while Fike crossed the line in 4:35.30. The hurdling duo of Vanneisha Ivy and LaToya James moved on in the 100-meter hurdles as Ivy finished in 13.41 with James reaching the line in 13.54 to claim one of the eight final spots.
The 800 should be a big scoring event for the Tar Heel women as Callie Pottinger (2:11.08), Dominique Jackson (2:12.52) and Tasha Stanley (2:13.26) to move on to Saturday's final.
James will be joined by Elizabeth Mott in the 400-meter hurdles as she ran a season-best 58.70, while Mott clocked a 59.81 to claim the final spot in the final. Ivy will also be competing in two finals on Saturday as she narrowly edged out Virginia Tech's Kristi Castlin for the final spot in the 200-meter dash as she ran a 23.983 to Castlin's 23.990.
Sophomore Adam Cunningham will be making an appearance in the men's 1500-meter run final for the Tar Heels as he qualified on Friday with a time of 3:53.67. A pair of Tar Heels will be in the 400-meter final as Charles Cox (47.18) and Ryan Booker (48.37) each qualified. Baldwin III will likely score in his second event of the weekend on Saturday as he punched his ticket to the finals of the 100-meter dash when he qualified in 10.96. The final qualifier for the men on Friday was Brian Barrett who finished second in his heat in 53.38 in the 400-meter hurdles to move on.
Action resumes at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Miami for the final day of competition. The Carolina women hold a 12 point lead over Virginia Tech as they look for their 15th ACC outdoor title in school history, while the men sit 25 points behind current leader Florida State.
Players Mentioned
