University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Indoor Championships
Tar Heels Win Three On Final Day Of ACC Championships
February 25, 2012 | Track & Field
Feb. 25, 2012
BOSTON- The North Carolina track and field program had another exceptional day at the track as both the men's and women's teams finished in third place. The Tar Heels were crowned ACC champions in three events to finish out Day 3 of the conference meet, which was held at the Reggie Lewis Track Center at Boston College.
“I am really, really proud of how our team did this weekend,” assistant head coach Josh Langley said. “There's really not much more we could have done. Our athletes did things we didn't even think they could or would do, and it was just great how they stuck together throughout the meet.”
The women's team took third with 85 points, just two points behind second-place Florida Sate. Clemson won the women's side with 166 points. For the men, Florida State won with 123 points, followed by Virginia Tech with 95.5, and the Tar Heels took third with 84.5 points.
Taking the first win of the meet for the Tar Heels was senior Tasha Stanley, who ran a great race to take first in the women's 800 in 2:08.18 “Coach Smith told Tasha that when she made a move, she had to make it count, and she did exactly that,” Langley said. “She really dominated the field the entire race.”
Sophomore Isaac Presson won the second event for Carolina, taking the men's one-mile title in 4:08.19. Freshman Jack Driggs also scored in the event, taking third in 4:09.67. The women's mile was also an impressive race for Carolina, as sophomore Lianne Farber ran a personal-best 4:41.80 to take second, and senior Ashley Verplank finished fifth in 4:46.20.
“Coach Vanhoy drew up a beautiful race plan for Isaac and Jack, and they executed it perfectly,” Langley said of the mile runners. "In the women's race, Lianne really put herself in a great position in the beginning and kept it the entire race."
The third win of the meet came in the final event, as the men's 4x400 team of freshmen Javonte Lipsey, Sean Sutton and O'Neal Wanliss, and junior Clayton Parros finished first in 3:13.69. All four runners had competed in multiple prelim and final events prior to the relay, making their win at the end of the meet even more impressive.
In the 400, Parros placed second in (47.86), Sutton took fifth (48.16) and Lipsey finished sixth (48.61). Junior Reynaldo Radlin finished seventh in 48.93. Parros also took fifth in the 200 (21.66), and Sutton finished eighth in the event (22.09).
Similarly, the women's 4x400 team of seniors Danielle Brock, Zoey Russell, Elizabeth Mott and Tasha Stanley ran a competitive relay, finishing second in 3:38.28 behind the women's team champion Clemson. In addition to Stanley's win earlier, the rest of the team had at least four other events before the relay.
Brock placed second in the 400 (54.07), while Mott took third (54.12), and Russell finished sixth (55.23). Mott also finished eighth in the 200 in 24.64.
The men's pole vault came down to a jump off between UNC senior Parker Smith and Florida State senior Gonzalo Barroilhet, and Smith finished in second with a height of 17-2 ¾. Senior Scott Houston took sixth at 16-6 ¾.
Sophomore Tristine Johnson added points for the women with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump (41-1), and on the men's side, junior Kwabena Keene took eight in the shot put with a toss of 56-2.
UNC will send some athletes to the Alex Wilson Invitational next Saturday, March 3, in South Bend, Ind. Those who qualify will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships held March 8-10, in Boise, Idaho.
Players Mentioned
