Bulls Have Strong Start at BIG EAST Indoors

Bulls' Hopkins Earns BIG EAST Track M.O.P.

Bulls Have Strong Start at BIG EAST Indoors

February 20, 2011 | Track & Field

By: USF

AKRON, Ohio -- The University of South Florida track and field team opened the first day of competition at the 2011 BIG EAST Indoor Championships at the Stile Athletics Field House in Akron, OH on Saturday. Day one was highlighted by nine new personal records for the Bulls.

"We had nine PR's today, five on the women's side and four on the men's, so that's always good to have life-time bests," said head coach Warren Bye. "We advanced several to the finals tomorrow, so that's very good as well. I expect all of them to do very well. In the horizontal jumps, I think we have a very good chance at scoring some points in both the men's and women's [standings]. We also have pole vault tomorrow, which will be good ... we're expecting to score there as well."

In the third running event of the day, USF saw two new personal records from sophomores Dariel Jackson and Monique Williams. The pair ran a 7.62 and 7.63 to take 10th and 14th, respectively in the event.

Jackson also had a new PR in the 200-meter dash, with a 24.48 sprint. She took 6th in the prelims and will advance to Sunday's finals. The mark replaces her previous personal best time of 24.69 she set two weeks ago at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.

Rachael James landed herself at the number two spot in the USF record books after running the 500m in 1:13.44 on Saturday. She beat former Bull Bente General's previous time of 1:14.91 set back in 2004.

Freshman Rachael Klinger set new PR's in each of the pentathlon events she competed in (60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m run). She scored a total of 3,310 points, which is the highest point total of her collegiate career.

Four men also saw new personal bests. Sophomore Mike Vani placed fifth in the pole vault with a 16-2.75 jump. Also in the jumps, senior Antillio Bastian leaped 22-11.75, which replaces his previous best mark of 22-5 he set earlier in the season at Minnesota.

Pascal Orelus is also set to compete in the 400m finals after running a personal best 48.64 and placing third in the prelims. The mark breaks his previous PR of 49.32 he set last year at Penn State.

Junior Philip Wise advanced to the finals for the first time in his career after running the mile in 4:13.95. The time replaces his previous best (4:14.03), which came two weeks ago at the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup.

Distance runners Yasmin Smith and Shaniel Chambers also advanced to Sunday's finals after running the mile and 500m, respectively. Smith beat her competitors by nearly nine seconds and finished the prelims with a time of 4:56.76. Chambers ran a 1:13.77 and is still looking to beat her school-record time of 1:13.25 that she set last year during the BIG EAST Indoor preliminary round.

On the men's side, three men that competed in the 60-meter dash also advanced to Sunday's finals. Derrick Hopkins won his race with a time of 6.86 and placed second overall in the prelims. Fellow teammates Greg Fontus and Kavyon Webster had times of 6.94 and 6.98, respectively.

Hopkins also won the 200-meter dash, winning his second heat of the day and the overall prelim with a time of 21.73. The BIG EAST season-best time advances him to the finals. Fontus also advances to with a time of 21.89.

David Aristil competed in the first of two heats in the 60-meter hurdles and advanced to the finals with a time of 7.99.

In the heptathlon, Neamen Wise is in 2nd place after day one with 3,132 points. Wise started off the day strong with a 1st place finish in the 60m dash with a time of 6.90 and a second place long jump finish with a leap of 23-10.25. Wise will finish up the competition tomorrow starting with the 60-meter hurdles, followed by pole vault and 1000m run.

USF will resume the competition on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles kicking things off. Running events and field events will start at 11:00 a.m. and 11:05 a.m., respectively.

Women Day One Results

60 Meters
10. Dariel Jackson, 7.62p
11. Monique Williams, 7.63p

200 Meters
6. Dariel Jackson, 24.48p
20. Christine Poole-Trice, 25.37p
22. Ashanti Stewart, 25.83p

400 Meters
18. Christine Poole-Trice, 57.94p

500 Meters
2. Shaniel Chambers, 1:13.77p
4. Rachael James, 1:13.44p

Mile
1. Yasmin Smith, 4:56.76p

60-Meter Hurdles
14. Ena Johnson, 8.92p

Long Jump
5. Monique Williams, 18-9.75

Weight Throw
4. Lauren Noe, 59-7.50
6. Atasha Warren, 56-8.50

Pentathlon
7. Rachael Klinger, 3310 pts
13. Lindsay Arnold, 2688 pts
14. Alex Ware, 2414 pts

Men's Day One Results

60 Meters
2. Derrick Hopkins, 6.86p
7. Greg Fontus, 6.94p
8. Kayvon Webster, 6.98p
14. Kevin Bell, 7.16p