University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Clemson Invite Day 1
Carolina To Split Weekend At Clemson And Notre Dame
January 18, 2018 | Track & Field
CHAPEL HILL - The North Carolina track and field teams will travel to Notre Dame and Clemson this weekend for the second competitions of the season. Carolina's heptathlete Will Eskew and the high jumpers, Nicole Greene and Draven Crist, will compete in the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C. Friday-Saturday (Jan. 19-20). The the majority of the squads are visiting Saturday's (Jan. 20) Notre Dame Invitational in Notre Dame, Ind.
CLEMSON INVITATIONAL
Eskew will kick off the weekend with the 60 meters at 9:30 a.m. Friday, followed by the long jump, shot put and high jump. On Saturday, he will compete in the 60-meter hurdles followed by the pole vault and 1000 meters.
Greene and Crist will compete in the high jump on Saturday - Greene at 11 a.m. and Crist at 1 p.m.
This will be the first of four trips the Tar Heels make to the Clemson Indoor Track facility this season. Carolina will compete as a full team in the Bob Pollock Invite from Jan. 26-27, and the Tiger Paw Invite Feb. 9-10, before the track hosts the 2018 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships from Feb. 22-24.
A full schedule of events, heat sheets and a link to live results are available on the schedule page.
NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL
The Notre Dame Invitational is set to get underway with the field events beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, and the running events beginning at 12 p.m.
The meet will include Cincinnati, DePaul, Illinois State, Louisville, North Carolina, Northern Illinois and Notre Dame. It will be the second scored meet that the Tar Heels will compete in this season with scoring according to the six-team scoring format: 10-8-6-4-2-1 for individual events and relays.
A full schedule of events and heat sheets are available on the schedule page. A live results link will be available soon.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Follow @unctrack_field on Twitter for live updates throughout the weekend. A recap of performances and results will be posted to GoHeels.com following the conclusion of each day of competition.
GREENE AND DUNCAN EARN ACC PERFORMER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Nicole Greene, a junior out of Ponte Vedra, Fla., was named the women's field performer of the week on January 16 for her personal-best and winning high jump of 6-2 (1.88 meters) at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup on January 13. The jump is the best in the NCAA so far this year by 1.5 inches and it equals the best jump from the entire ACC during the 2017 indoor season. It is also the first time that Greene has set a personal best in the event since she jumped 6-1 ½ in her final meet as a senior in high school. The jump moved her into a tie for second-place in UNC history behind Olympian and former American record holder Tisha Waller, and it moved her ahead of assistant coach Nicole Hudson.
This is the fifth time in her three years that Greene has been named ACC Field Performer of the Week - she received the honor once as a freshman (Jan. 12) and three times as a sophomore (Jan. 24, Feb.7, Feb.14).
Brianna Duncan, a sophomore from Cambridge, Mass., was named a women's track co-performer of the week for her 60 meters performance at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup. She won the prelims in 7.38, which was not only the fastest time of the round, but it also broke a 20-year-old school record of 7.41, set by Crystal Cox in 1998. Duncan then broke the record again in the final, winning the event in 7.29. The time is tied for third-fastest in the country so far this season, and it is the fastest time in the ACC. Duncan's previous best in the event was 7.51.
This is the first time in her career that Duncan has received the honor.
DICK TAYLOR CAROLINA CUP RECAP
The University of North Carolina track and field teams kicked off the 2018 indoor season by winning both titles of the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup at Eddie Smith Field House over Duke, NC State and ECU on January 13. The women scored 60 points, winning by 20 points over the Duke, and the men claimed a 12-point victory over the Blue Devils.
The women won their third-consecutive title in the event with the men claiming at least a share of the title for the fourth-straight time in the Carolina Cup's five-year history.
Sophomore Brianna Duncan (Cambridge, Mass.) brought a roar to Eddie Smith Field House in the second-heat of the 60 meters when she broke the 20-year-old school record in the event with her time of 7.38. Duncan came into the meet tied for the fifth-fastest time in school history at 7.51, but it only took her one race to break Crystal Cox's record.
Then, in the 60m final, Duncan did it again. Sprinting down the track in 7.29, not only did she break her own record from earlier in the afternoon, but that time is also the fastest in the ACC and tied for the tied for third-fastest in the country.
In the race just before Duncan's, Marcus Krah, a redshirt-freshman from Durham, N.C., made his presence known to college track. In what was his collegiate debut, the junior world champion won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.92. That time ranks top-20 in the country, top-five in UNC history and it is the second-fastest time run in the ACC this season.
Those races were two of the best highlights from the afternoon, but junior Nicole Greene (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) produced perhaps the loudest reaction of the day from those at Eddie Smith. Greene had not set a personal-best in the high jump since her final meet as a high school senior in 2015, but Saturday she cleared 6-2 (1.88 meters) to eclipse her previous best of 6-1 ½ (1.87 meters). That mark is the best so far this year in the country, and it pushed Greene past her coach, Nicole Hudson, into a tie for second in the Carolina record books.
"I'm really happy with the overall performances for our kids today," head coach Harlis Meaders said. "It was an early meet, but I think everyone came out and competed really hard. Some of the performances were truly exceptional. Nicole Greene with the 6-2 jump, becoming the number two jumper all-time here at the University of North Carolina behind Olympian and former American-record holder [Tisha Waller]. That's really a big jump for this time in the season, so I think coach Nicole Hudson has done a great job with her. Brianna Duncan, in the women's 60-meter dash, was a really excellent first race of the season. It's been a while since we've had a sprinter of her caliber here. So, she's done a fantastic job, and that's working with coach Abigi [Id-Deen] and coach Kia [Id-Deen]. A really good job there. And then Marcus Krah, Marcus Krah was the world junior champion in the 110-hurdles, but he hasn't raced in over a year. But to come back for his first collegiate race and have his time, I thought that was truly exceptional."
Other highlights from the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup:
Women
• Senior Cierra Dunston (Powder Springs, Ga.) won the 200 meters in 24.75, and senior Jewel Christian (Woodbridge, Va.) set a personal best of 25.34 in the event, taking fourth.
• Senior Blake Dodge (Beaufort, N.C.) won the 800 meters in 2:13.07.
• Senior Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.), junior Morgan Ilse (Dunwoody, Ga.) and sophomore Erin Edmundson (Prospect, Ky.) went 1-2-3 in the mile run. Alcorta won in 4:50.97, Ilse took second in 4:52.36 (personal-best) and Edmundson finished third in 4:54.00 (personal-best).
• Alcorta and Ilse also took the first two places of the 3,000 meters with Alcorta winning in 9:51.47 and Ilse finishing just behind in 9:52.27.
• The women's 4x400 of McNeill, Christian, Dixon and Dunston won in 3:48.37.
• Sophomore McKinley McNeill (Winston-Salem, N.C.) took second in the 400 meters with a time of 57.20.
• Senior Natisha Dixon (Marietta, Ga.) took second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.50.
• Redshirt-junior Alex Cooke (Lowgap, N.C.) and freshman Jillian Shippee (Clifton Park, N.Y.) took second and third, respectfully, in the women's weight throw. Cooke threw 62-0 ¼ (18.90 meters), and Shippee threw for 59-10 ¼ (18.24 meters).
• Junior Anna Eaton (Cary, N.C.) finished third in the pole vault at 12-3 ½ (3.75 meters).
• In her collegiate debut, Anna Keefer (St. Michael Albertville, Minn.) jumped 18-9 ¼ (5.72 meters) in the long jump to finish third.
Men
• Freshman Ryan Saint-Germain (Jacksonville, Fla.) won the 200 meters in 22.46. Freshman Jadon Johnson (Lewisville, Texas) finished third in 22.51.
• Junior Amari DeVaughn (High Point, N.C) won the 400 meters in 48.73 with sophomore Brandon Cachon (Naples, Fla.) finished just behind in second in 50.28.
• Redshirt-freshmen Brodie Modini (Queensland, Australia) and Alex Milligan (State College, Pa.) finished 1-2 in the 3,000 meters. Modini won the race in 8:27.09, a personal best, and Milligan took second in 8:27.88, his first time competing in the event.
• Redshirt Freshman Bailey Frederick (Waxhaw, N.C.) finished second in the pole vault with a jump of 15-9 (4.80 meters).
• In his collegiate debut, freshman Dontavian Smith (Roxboro, N.C.) took third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.88, a personal best.
• Junior Darryl Shaw (Fayetteville, N.C.), freshman Carson Pledger (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior RaeKwon Villines (Mebane, N.C) went 1-2-3 in the triple jump.
Players Mentioned
