Men Take Second Place At ACC Indoors

Saturday, February 27

Blacksburg, Va.

All Day

North Carolina

ACC Indoor Championships

February 27, 2010 | Track & Field

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Feb. 27, 2010

Final Stats

BLACKSBURG, VA. - The University of North Carolina track and field teams wrapped up the 2010 ACC Indoor Championships on Saturday with the men placing second with 103.5 points and the women seventh with 37.5 points. This is the highest finish the men's team has earned since 2002 when they last placed second. With the rest of the program cheering on, Carolina saw 10 All-ACC awards including six gold, three silver and one bronze for the conference championships.

Starting the day for the Tar Heels were four women in the high jump. Patience Coleman took second in the event, reaching a season high mark of 5-10 3/4 and scored eight points for Carolina. That height also earns Coleman a NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Briana Hudson, in her first conference championship, tied for eighth at a height of 5-6 1/2 to tab another half of a point and a season best. Ariel Roberts (5-6 1/2) and Alexandra Coppadge (5-4 1/2) also competed in the event.

Vanneisha Ivy also brought points towards the women's team final score with her fourth place finish in the 60-meter hurdles final. Ivy raced in 8.24 in a final that saw her reach a provisional mark for her the sixth time this season in the event. The women's triple jump originally had five Tar Heels on the docket, but because of injury, only Chrishawn Williams, Michelle Newman and Hudson competed. Williams placed highest for Carolina at 13th with her jump of 40-3 1/2, her highest for the indoor season. Newman followed reaching 39-9 1/4 and Hudson with 39-6.

For the women's 800, Dominique Jackson and Tasha Stanley held a solid 2-3 hold for the majority of the race but were challenged in the final curve. Stanley beat out a surge at the line to claim second place and All-ACC honors, running a season high 2:08.32 for a provisional mark. Jackson ended up taking home fifth place in 2:09.60 adding to the women's team score.

Lauren Holesh was the sole Tar Heel to compete in the 3000-meters. After coming out to the front of the pack in the first five laps for the first heat, Holesh kept the pace hanging on to second place for eight laps before kicking her race into overdrive in the final two laps. Holesh finished the heat in first place but had to wait for the second heat to run before she could find her overall place. In the end, the senior's season high of 9:46.91 was just short of scoring position.

Christine Johnson took on the opening leg of the women's 4x400-meter relay, giving the Tar Heels a good start. Elizabeth Mott took over followed by LaToya James battling for a slight advantage going into the anchor leg. Stanley stretched her stride to win their heat the event. Their time of 3:42.31 is the best of the season and placed them fourth overall for the championships.

The first scheduled event of the day for the men was the triple jump. Donte Nall, who won his second indoor ACC high jump final on Friday, scored three points for the men's team with his sixth place finish in the event. Nall reached a length of 49-1 to place in his second event of the ACC Indoor Championships. In pole vault, Parker Smith reached a season high of 17-0 3/4 to claim five points for the Carolina men. Chadd Pierce also competed in the event, but did not clear height.

Kwabena Keene took his first All-ACC honors with a third place finish in the shot put. Keene's throw of 58-5 1/4 ties the fifth-ranked UNC set by John Jessup in 1971, is a new personal record for the sophomore and earns him his first NCAA provisional mark. Chris DiLorenzo also set a personal best in the shot put, throwing 56-0 1/2 to take sixth in his first conference championship. Kyle Goodman also threw the shot put for Carolina, reaching 47-10 1/2.

Mile finalists Logan Rosenberg, Adam Cunningham and Kyle Milks made Carolina the most represented school in the event and set the record for the number of Tar Heels in a men's mile ACC final. Cunningham battled down the final stretch to end up with silver, earning All-ACC honors for his time of 4:10.50. Rosenberg also scored for Carolina by taking fifth in 4:10.82. Milks finished just out of scoring reach in 4:13.72.

Rosenberg also competed in the 800 final where he earned sixth place. He ran in 1:52.58 to score three points for the men's squad. In the 3000, Evan Watchempino and Zack Dawson finished for the Tar Heels 24th and 28th, respectively. Watchempino crossed the line at 8:30.94 and Dawson at 8:37.11. Cunningham and Alex Cremer also started the race, but after setting the pace for Watchempino and Dawson, they bowed out before finishing.

Carolina took 1-3-4 in the men's 400-meter dash with freshman Clayton Parros leading the pack to take gold in 47.02. Charles Cox took third place for All-ACC honors in 47.19, his best time of the season. Ian Williamson placed fourth in the final in his new personal best 47.47, breaking the record he set for himself on Friday in the prelims.

Later in the men's 200 final, Parros and Cox scored more points for the men's team with Parros earning fifth place for four points and Cox seventh for two. Parros ran in 21.24 and Cox in 21.36. Both times were season highs for the runners as well as their second provisional marks for the event.

The Carolina's men's squad hovered in second place all day until the completion of the pole vault pushed them down to third. Their final placement and point total hung on how the men's 4x400 relay did in the finals. Competing in the final heat, with the field house the loudest it had been all weekend from teams cheering for their comrades, Cox opened the leg for the men's relay with determination in his stare. Once Cox gunned out of the last curve to lead, Williamson took the baton for the second leg extending the lead. Rick Goettel took over from there battling for first with Clemson. Parros handled the final leg of the relay, emptying the gas tank from his previous two events on Saturday. Parros came around the final curve with the same determination that started with Cox and to give the final boost. The men finished first, the team's first 4x400 win since 2007. Their time of 3:09.96 breaks into the top-five for school records as well as making a provisional qualifying mark.

Carolina has three "last chance" meets that the team will split up to compete at. The Alex Wilson Invite starts March 5th and continues on March 6th, when the Iowa State Invitational and VT Final Qualifier are set. These are the last chances for Tar Heels to earn bids to the NCAA Indoor National Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., from March 12-13th.

ALL-ACC TAR HEELS
Mateo Sossah, Heptathlon - 1st
Donte Nall, High Jump - 1st
Patience Coleman, High Jump - 2nd
Kwabena Keene, Shot Put - 3rd
Adam Cunningham, Mile - 2nd
Clayton Parros, 400 - 1st & 4x400 - 1st
Charles Cox, 400 - 3rd & 4x400 - 1st
Tasha Stanley, 800 - 2nd
Rick Goettel, 4x400 - 1st
Ian Williamson, 4x400 - 1st