North Carolina
ACC Indoor Championships
UNC Women Lead After Day 2 Of ACC Championships
February 25, 2012 | Track & Field
Feb. 24, 2012
BOSTON- After an outstanding day of competition, the North Carolina women's track and field team is in first place and the men are in fifth at the ACC Indoor Championships. The three-day meet concludes Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Track Center.
Starting off the Friday's meet were the last three events of the men's heptathlon. Freshmen Joe Hutchinson and Kyle Cranston, and junior Chadd Pierce all had strong performances, as Hutchinson set personal-best marks in six of the seven events. and Pierce moved up four spots after finishing the first day in seventh place. Hutchinson took second with 5,285 points, Cranston placed third with 5,063, and Pierce finished fourth with 4,840.
The strong performances continued throughout the day for the Tar Heels, as junior Chrishawn Williams took second in the women's long jump (19-11 1/2), and the women's distance medley relay team of sophomore Lianne Farber, senior Zoey Russell, junior Marisa Dobbins and senior Ashley Verplank also took second in 11:25.36.
"The women executed our game plan as well as we could have hoped or expected," assistant coach Josh Langley said. "Our sprinters really came through for both the men and women, and our multis did an outstanding job. Our team really didn't leave much left on the table-- they really took advantage of every opportunity they had. Tomorrow we are going to go out there and try to execute just as well as we did today."
Also placing in the top-eight for the women was junior Ariel Roberts, who took second in the pentathlon Thursday, tied for fourth place in the high jump with a height of 5-7. Sophomore Sandi Morris took fourth in the pole vault (13-1 3/4) while freshman Cameron Overstreet tied for sixth (12-10).
On the men's side, junior Dylan Moore tied for fourth in the high jump, clearing 6-10 3/4.
Friday's competition featured preliminary heats of the 200, 400, 800 and mile for the men and women. UNC had 16 qualifiers from today who will compete in finals Saturday.
Seniors Tasha Stanley and Elizabeth Mott led the way for UNC as both had the top prelim times in their events. Stanley had a time of 2:07.19 in the 800, and Mott ran 54.88 in the women's 400. She also competed in the 200, finishing as the fifth qualifier in 24.31. Carolina had two others qualify in the 400, as senior Danielle Brock ran 55.64 to qualify with a sixth-place finish, and senior Zoey Russell finished seventh in 55.88.
The men's 400 finals will feature four Tar Heels, as freshman Javonte Lipsey is in third (48.61), junior Clayton Parros finished fourth (48.64), freshman Sean Sutton took fifth (48.76) and junior Reynaldo Radlin finished eighth (49.22) in today's prelims. Parros (fifth, 21.54) and Sutton (eighth, 21.81) also qualified for the finals of the 200. Freshman O'Neal Wanliss qualified for the finals of the 800, as he finished seventh in 1:51.66.
Carolina also two men and two women make finals in the one mile. For the women, senior Ashley Verplank took third in 4:46.47, and sophomore Lianne Farber finished sixth in 4:47.86. Freshman Jack Driggs took third in 4:07.05, and sophomore Isaac Presson finished ninth in 4:10.27.
After two days of competition, the women's team is in first place with 35 points, and the men are in sixth with 23.50 points. Both teams will have numerous chances for scoring Saturday and will look to maintain and improve on their current standings. Follow the events through live results and a live online broadcast on theACC.org.
Players Mentioned
