Bulls Compete for BIG EAST Indoor Titles
February 17, 2011 | Track & Field
BIG EAST Championship Central | BIG EAST Indoor Meet Schedule | Live Results
TAMPA - The University of South Florida track and field teams will wrap up the 2010-11 indoor season this weekend when it competes at the BIG EAST Championships Feb. 19-20 at the Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, OH.
For those of you who aren't able to travel to the meet, the BIG EAST will be streaming the championship completely free of charge for the first time ever this year. You can follow the meet via live streaming.
You can click here for the order of events for both Saturday and Sunday. If you'd like to follow along throughout the day, live results will be posted here and heat sheets for upcoming events will also be posted at that link as well.
Fans will also be able to check the official BIG EAST Championship Central website throughout the weekend to check for daily results, video and recaps of the day. Be sure to check back to GoUSFBulls.com as well for complete USF coverage.
There will be a total of 36 Bulls representing USF this year (20 females and 16 males) at the BIG EAST Indoor Championships. Overall, the Bulls posted a total of 51 qualifying marks. Sophomore Monique Williams and freshman Christine Poole-Trice both qualified in three different events for the women's side and junior David Aristil, senior Greg Fontus and sophomore Neamen Wise all qualified for three events for the men's team.
To see the best USF marks this season and to see who qualified for the Bulls, click here. The complete BIG EAST performance list with everyone in the conference who has posted a qualifying time can be accessed at the TFFRS website.
Bulls On the Run
There are several USF BIG EAST qualifiers who are in the driver's seat to take home a league title, or finish in the top-three to earn All-Conference honors.
Graduate student Denise von Enyatten currently sits atop the conference list in pole vault, when she leaped 14-0 at the Jayhawk Classic on Jan. 28. With the mark, she also set the new all-time school record, having previously broken it in 2008.
Von Enyatten qualified for the indoor championship her first meet of the season at the Bob Eubanks Open on Jan. 14 with a leap of 13-5.25.
Junior Shaniel Chambers is also expected to make a run at an indoor title. The school record holder in the 500m, Chambers has been competing hard over the past few months. She has yet to run in a 500m race this season, but has found success in the 800m, running a 2:10.38 to rank second in the all-time record books.
Also expecting to win their events are freshman Shane Lewis, sophomores Monique Williams and Derrick Hopkins, junior David Aristil and senior Greg Fontus.
Lewis has yet to take anything but first place in his collegiate career. He currently ranks number one in the conference with a 50-5.25 leap he took at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup two weeks ago at Penn State.
Williams (long jump), Hopkins (60m) and Aristil (60m Hurdles) are all in 2nd place in their respective events. Fifth-year sprinter Fontus is also ranked second in the 200m and is looking for his first BIG EAST title.
Junior Lauren Noe is currently ranked third in the weight throw and is also expecting to improve on her personal best mark she threw earlier this season at the Bob Eubanks Open (62-2.50).
BIG EAST Indoor History
This is the sixth season the Bulls have competed in the BIG EAST for track and field and have had several successful years. USF looks to add more BIG EAST titles to their resume this weekend in Akron.
Last year, USF had a BIG EAST conference champion in then-junior Stephanie Duffy. She took home first place in the pole vault after she cleared 13-3.50 at the Armory in New York.
With the win, she became the Bulls second BIG EAST Indoor Champion on the women's side and the second in three years in pole vault after von Enyatten won the title in 2008.
On the men's side, then-sophomore David Aristil ran his personal best time of 8.04 in the 60-meter hurdles as he went on to place fifth overall. Also in the sprints, current sophomore Derrick Hopkins finished fourth in the 60 meter dash, running a 6.80.
As a freshman, Mike Vani also helped score some points for the Bulls, finishing in eigth place with a season-best height of 15-3.
The highest placement for the women's team in BIG EAST action came in 2008 when the Bulls finished 10th overall with 35 points.
Prior to joining the BIG EAST in 2005, the women's team won 23 different indoor titles in the Conference USA while the men won five titles.
Last Time Out for the Bulls
USF last competed at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Feb. 5 in State College, Pa. Both the men and women had two first place finishes a piece - Aristil (60mH), Lewis (Triple Jump), Duffy (Pole Vault) and Noe (Weight Throw).
In addition to winning the pole vault title, Duffy also set a new PR, jumping 13-6.25 and broke the four-year-old meet record by almost 5 inches. The previous record was 13-1.50 set by Erin Mahony of Virginia Tech back in 2007.
Also at the meet, freshman sprinter Poole-Trice set two new PRs and made her way into the record books in the 200m and 400m, running 25.25 and 57.21 respectively.
Yasmin Smith competed in the 800m for the first time in her career and won her heat by a margin of 7 seconds to finish third overall with a time of 2:10.69 and landed herself at the number three spot in the all-time indoor record books behind mid-distance standout Chambers.
2011 BIG EAST Indoor Championship Qualifiers:
Women Participants
60 Meters
-- Dariel Jackson
-- Monique Williams
200 Meters
-- Dariel Jackson
-- Christine Poole-Trice
-- Ashanti Stewart
400 Meters
-- Christine Poole-Trice
500 Meters
-- Shaniel Chambers
-- Rachael James
Mile
-- Yasmin Smith
60-Meter Hurdles
--Ena Johnson
4x400 Meter Relay
-- Shaniel Chambers
-- Rachael James
-- Christine Poole-Trice
-- Yasmin Smith
-- Ashanti Stewart
Pole Vault
-- Stephanie Duffy
-- Nicole Smith
-- Denise von Eynatten
-- Dana Webb
Long Jump
-- Monique Williams
Triple Jump
-- MaShonda Rayner
-- Marqueshia Stallworth
-- Tralonda Todd
-- Monique Williams
Shot Put
-- Atasha Warren
Weight Throw
-- Lauren Noe
-- Atasha Warren
Pentathlon
-- Lindsay Arnold
-- Rachael Klinger
-- Alex War
Men's Participants
60 Meters
-- Kevin Bell
-- Greg Fontus
-- Derrick Hopkins
-- Kayvon Webster
200 Meters
-- Greg Fontus
-- Derrick Hopkins
-- David Hunter
400 Meters
-- Pascal Orelus
500 Meters
-- David Aristil
Mile
-- Phillip Wise
60-Meter Hurdles
-- David Aristil
-- Camilo Calderon
4x400 Meters
-- David Aristil
-- Kevin Bell
-- Camilo Calderon
-- Greg Fontus
-- David Hunter
-- Pascal Orelus
-- Kayvon Webster
-- Neamen Wise
High Jump
-- Sharif Hudson
-- Bryan Kilts
Pole Vault
-- Mike Vani
Long Jump
-- Antillio Bastian
-- Bryan Kilts
-- Shane Lewis
-- Neamen Wise
Triple Jump
-- Antillio Bastian
-- Shane Lewis
Shot Put
-- Jared Thomas
Weight Throw
-- Jared Thomas
Heptathlon
-- Neamen Wise
Up Next for USF
The Bulls will open their outdoor season at the University of North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla. on March 4 following a two week break from competition. USF will host its first home meet of the season, the USF Open, on March 11 at the USF Track and Field Stadium. The NCAA Indoor Championships will conclude the indoor season the weekend of March 11-12 in College Station, TX.
