North Carolina
ACC Outdoor Championships
James Sets School Record En Route To Two Titles
April 23, 2011 | Track & Field
April 23, 2011
DURHAM, N.C.- The Carolina men's and women's track and field teams each finished third in an outstanding showing at the ACC Outdoor Championships at Duke University's Wallace Wade Stadium. UNC claimed two more individual titles on the final day of the meet as senior LaToya James took first in the 400-meter hurdles and led the women's 4x400 team to a win, while the Tar Heels scored in 25 different events Saturday.
Senior LaToya James started the day with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles (13.23), and returned just a few hours later to capture the 400-meter hurdles title in an NCAA-leading time of 55.83, finishing more than 1.5 seconds ahead of second place. James crushed her own school record of 56.63, which she set in 2010, by more than a full second.
James then returned to the track with teammates Christine Johnson, Tasha Stanley and Zoey Russell to capture the women's 4x400 title in 3:34.42, which ranks as the No. 3 time in school history and the No. 10 time in the NCAA so far this season. That win was the Tar Heels' fifth title in the event, and their first since 2002.
Carolina grabbed all three medals in the men's 400-meter hurdles, as sophomore Reynaldo Radlin won the event in 51.89. Freshmen Roy Smith (52.38) and Devon Carter (52.39) rounded out the top-three. Carter also placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles earlier in the day in a time of 14.74.
Reynaldo then helped the men's 4x400 team of seniors Charles Cox and Kelvin Hardesty and fellow sophomore Clayton Parros hold off Florida State for second place in an exciting final race. The Tar Heels took second in 3:08.80, just .05 seconds ahead of the Seminoles who finished third in 3:08.85. Earlier in the meet, Parros took second in the 400 (46.17) and sixth in the 200 (21.24), and Cox placed third in the 400 (46.94).
In the women's 800, junior Ashley Verplank nearly caught Boston College's Carolina King as she took second in 2:04.99, just .11 seconds off of King's 2:04.88. Verplank completed an impressive double as she also finished fourth in the 1,500 in 4:20.16 earlier in the day. Also in the women's 800, Stanley finished third in 2:05.74, and senior Dominique Jackson placed fourth in 2:06.01. Isaac Presson was the top freshman finisher in the men's 1,500 as he finished fourth in 3:45.40, and junior Jeremy Gerlach held on to take seventh in the men's 800 in 1:52.90.
Carolina also scored points from three women in the 400, as Russell finished third (53.93), junior Elizabeth Mott placed fourth (54.03) and Johnson took fifth (55.26).
In the field, freshmen Sandi Morris and Merritt Van Meter placed third and fourth in the women's pole vault, each clearing a height of 12-11 3/4. In the men's vault, senior Parker Smith tied for third at 16-2 3/4, and sophomore Chadd Pierce finished eighth (15-9).
Senior Austin Davis placed third in the men's triple jump (51-9), and senior Donte Nall, who also finished seventh yesterday in the high jump, placed fifth with a distance of 49-1 1/2.
The women's 4x100 team of Johnson, and juniors Malai Walker, Chrishawn Williams and Jacinda Evans finished fifth in 46.23, and the men's relay of Smith, Hardesty, Carter and freshman Nick Platt took sixth in 41.56.
Carolina will host the Dick Taylor Tar Heels Relays on May 7 at UNC's Belk Track at Fetzer Field. Stay tuned to TarHeelBlue.com for more information on that meet. Carolina athletes who have qualfied will be competing May 26-28 at the NCAA Regional Championships in Bloomington, Ind.
Players Mentioned
