January 29, 2011

LYNCHBURG, Va. – UNCG broke two school records on the women's side and the men's team had a 1-2 finish in the mile to lead the Spartans on Saturday at the Liberty Open in Lynchburg, Va.

"Things went pretty well overall for the team," said coach Linh Nguyen. "Although the times weren't as fast as we would have liked, that was the case for the whole meet and not just our team. We competed at the front of every race and ran well for the first time out. A lot of people ran off distances so it's good to see success in something that is not the athlete's main event. I think this gives us a good idea of where we are and the things we need to focus on going forward."

Ashley Schnell shattered the previous school record in the mile on the women's side as she ran a 5:00.68 to finish in first place. That time broke the previous school record set by Jess Weber in 2006 by just over 13 seconds.

Weber saw another one of her school records fall on Saturday as Shaina Sumney set a new mark in the 800 meters. Sumney's time of 2:20.60 earned her first place in the event and broke Weber's mark she set in 2008 by 1.15 seconds.

"Shaina broke a record in the 800 off of about 4 days of running after an injury," said Nguyen. "Ashley broke the record in the mile running alone the whole way. All in all, a solid start to the season."

On the men's side, Joey Thompson and Jermaine Coore ran to a 1-2 finish in the mile. Thompson finished the race in a time of 4:24.95 to earn top honors, while Coore was right on his heels to finish in 4:25.22 to earn runner-up honors.

John Teeter also had a nice afternoon as he set a new personal-best in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:37.68 to finish in 13^th place.

"Jermaine ran very well in the mile, leading the whole way only to get nipped by Joey at the line," said Nguyen. "Joey's race was good as well considering he couldn't run for 5 of the last 6 weeks."

The Spartans will be back in action next weekend at a pair of prestigious events. Some runners will head up to South Bend, Ind. for the Meyo Invitational, while others will go to Johnson City, Tenn. for the Niswonger Invitational.

AGATE

Men's team:
200m: 62. Jelani Bonner, 25.51; 67. Bill Kane, 28.21
Mile: 1. Joey Thompson, 4:24.95; 2. Jermaine Coore, 4:25.22; 12. Ben Vasquez, 4:32.84; 14. Brian Carrington, 4:33.20
1000m: 13. John Teeter, 2:37.68; 18. Parker Wenos, 2:40.78; 23. Tyron Alston, 2:43.65; 25. Ben Constantinides, 2:44.68
3000m: 15. Taylor Day, 9:11.28

Women's team:
200m: 46. Morgan Mitchell, 29.72; 48. Emily Morris, 29.90
800m: 1. Shaina Sumney, 2:20.60; 9. Jade Farlow, 2:26.93
1000m: 3. Shannon Hall, 3:11.70; 5. Kelly Montague, 3:15.10; 9. Michelle Chewens, 3:20.64; 15. Emily Vasquez, 3:31.09
Mile: 1. Ashley Schnell, 5:00.68; 3. Kerry Hartman, 5:15.13; 7. Chelsea Sumney, 5:22.38; 10. Ginny Cronley, 5:31.75; 23. Tiffany Garber, 5:42.59; 32. Jenna Paley, 5:50.90
3000m: 27. Danielle Merriman, 11:57.96

- UNCG -