University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Ready For ACC Indoor Track Championships
February 13, 2002 | Track & Field
Feb. 13, 2002
The UNC track teams will host the ACC Indoor Championships this Friday and Saturday in the Eddie Smith Fieldhouse on the campus of UNC. The Tar Heel women will be aiming for their 10th straight ACC indoor title, while the men will be looking to improve on last season's second-place finish.
Action starts Friday at 10 a.m. with the women's 20-pound weight throw and runs through 6:10 p.m. with the distance medley relays. Saturday begins with the men's 35-pound weight throw at 10 a.m. and will finish up with the 400-meter relays at 4:15 p.m.
Several Tar Heels will be defending ACC indoor titles won last season. Blair Woodward (long jump), Brent Callaway (pole vault), Ian Douglas (shot put), Shalane Flanagan (mile) and Alice Schmidt (800m) will each compete for Coach Dennis Craddock's Tar Heels and defend titles won last year.
Several Tar Heels also enter the meet having already met NCAA automatic or provisional qualifying marks this season. Flanagan automatically qualified in the mile with a time of 4:38.43 at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 1 in Fayetteville, Ark. Flanagan also ran a 9:16.19 in the 3000m on Jan. 19 at the Tar Heel Elite to qualify for Nationals.
Adam Shunk automatically qualified in the high jump with a 7-4 1/2 jump on Jan. 18 in the Tar Heel Elite meet.
Woodward (long jump), Callaway (pole vault), Ian Douglas (shot put) and Sal Gigante (35-pound weight throw) have provisionally qualified for NCAA's on the men' s side. Schmidt (800m), Erin Donohue (mile), Carol Henry (3000m), Shannon Burns (triple jump) and Ibiene Bilaye-Benibo (shot put) have reached provisional marks for the Tar Heel women's team.
Additionally, a number of Tar Heels rank at or near the top of the ACC's best performances so far this season. Flanagan has the ACC's top times in the 3000m (9:16.19) and mile (4:38.43), while Schmidt leads the conference in the 800m at 2:07.34. Donohue and Henry are second and third in the mile at 4:45.69 and 4:51.98, and Henry is also third in the 3000m with a time of 9:24.50.
Shannon Burns is second in the ACC in the triple jump with a mark of 42-3 1/4. Ibiene Bilaye-Benibo is second in the shot put (50-6) and fifth in the 20-pound weight throw (57-11). Both of Bilaye-Benibo's distances are UNC records.
For the men, Woodward leads the conference in the long jump (24-11) and is second in the triple jump (49-9). Shunk leads the high jump at 7-4 1/2, while Douglas holds first in the shot put (59-5 1/2) and sixth in the weight throw (57-7).
Callaway is in second place in the pole vault with a height of 17-0 3/4, and Zach Victor holds second in the mile at 4:10.08.
Carolina thrower Sal Gigante is second in the ACC in the 35-pound weight throw with a UNC record toss of 67-11.
Players Mentioned
