April 26, 2009

HICKORY, N.C. – The Mars Hill women’s track team battled both the heat and stiff competition on Saturday at the Southeast Regional Championship. Mars Hill finished fourth of 10 teams with 103 points.

In the Hammer Throw, Senior Erin Stowe (Cincinnati, Ohio) led a top three finish by Mars Hill. Stowe’s throw of 24.02m won the competition while Austen Ward (Asheville, N.C.) threw 22.41m to finish second and Kelli Elliott (Mill Spring, N.C.) finished third with a throw of 20.57m. Elliott was also the lone Lady Lion to score points in the Javelin where she finished 4th with a throw of 21.44m.

Stowe led another top three sweep by Mars Hill in the discus throw. Stowe finished first with a throw of 30.79m and was followed by Elliott (22.72m) in second and Ward (21.35m) in third.  In her final event as a Lady Lion, Stowe finished second place in the Shot Put with a throw of 9.78m. Elliott followed closely behind in third place with her throw of 9.35m.

Senior Tandra Landers (Monroe, GA) began her impressive day with a victory in the long jump by jumping 5.19m.  Teammate Sharisse Sutherland (Marietta, GA) also earned a scoring position with her fourth place finish (4.20m).

On Friday night, junior Ashley McCarthy (Clearwater, Fla.) claimed victory in the high jump (1.55m) and captured another victory on Saturday in the Pole Vault (2.15m).  Freshman Ginny Smith (Crossnore, N.C.) finished in second place behind McCarthy in the High Jump and claimed a victory of her own in the triple jump (9.65m). Teammate Meredith Mercer (Alexander, N.C.) finished second just behind Smith with a jump of 9.53m.

Landers followed up her victory in the long jump with a victory in the 100m dash. Landers ran into a stiff headwind and finished with a time 13.47 seconds while teammate Sharisse Sutherland claimed 4th place in 13.90 seconds. Landers also finished second in the 200m dash in 28.06 seconds. McCarthy rounded out scoring in the sprints with a fourth place finish in the 400m dash (1:05.60).

Junior Nadine Hayes (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led the 100m hurdle squad with a victory in 17.71 seconds.  Ginny Smith followed in second (18.05), Nadia Elmenani (18.38) in third, and Meredith Mercer (18.39) in fourth.   McCarthy claimed her third victory of the meet in the 400m hurdles (1:12.87) and was followed by Hayes (1:16.90) in second and Elmenani (Sarasota, Fla.) in third (1:25.54).

The women’s 4x100 relay team of Hayes, Sutherland, Jessica McEntyre (Landrum, S.C.), and Landers finished in second place with a time of 53.08 seconds.  The women’s 4x400 relay team of Chelsea Daugherty (Summit, N.J.), Melissa Holloway (Helena, Ala.), Laurel Sitze (Raleigh, N.C.), and McCarthy finished third in 4:38.50.

Freshman Angela Woodward (Gahanna, Ohio) began the distance action with a dominating victory in the 10,000m on Friday evening (44:03.65) while Hannah Moore (Franklin, N.C.) followed in second (50:47.23). 

On Saturday, Anita Casey (Greer, S.C.) made her debut in the 3000m Steeplechase and came away with a third place finish (14:21.27).  Laurel Sitze claimed a scoring spot in the 1500m run with her fourth place finish in 5:40.36.  Woodward returned to action on Saturday in the 5000m and finished third place (20:46.91) while Casey completed distance scoring with a fourth place finish (22:38.69).

UNC Pembroke won the regional competition with 147 points.

SAC Team Scores:

Mars Hill College                           103

Carson Newman College              77

Lenoir Rhyne University                25

Brevard College                             1

Mars Hill Top Performances:

Erin Stowe – Hammer Throw, Discus

Tandra Landers – Long Jump, 100m Dash

Ashley McCarthy – High Jump, Pole Vault, 400m Hurdles

Ginny Smith – Triple Jump

Nadine Hayes – 100m Hurdles

Angela Woodward – 10,000m

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