University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Outdoor Championships
UNC Finishes Second Day of ACCs Within Striking Distance
April 19, 2014 | Track & Field
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The University of North Carolina track and field teams wrapped up the second day of competition of the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The women's team is tied for third with 33 points while the men's team sits in fourth place with 23 points.
"It feels like the indoor championship all over again," North Carolina head coach Harlis Meaders said. "Going into the final day, the points are tight; it's a three-team race with Florida State, Notre Dame and us again. We've got opportunities. We've got a couple more opportunities than we had indoors. It's going to be another tight team championship. What our team has to do is in the events we don't have Florida State and Notre Dame, we have to challenge them and score big points. In the races where we are racing against Notre Dame and FSU head-to-head, we have to hold our own. It's not going to be over until the 4x400s, like it was indoors, and I think our guys are expecting that, and I think that's what we wanted. It's going to be a great day. The weather could play a twist in it; we may get a little more rain and wind to add drama to it, but I wouldn't have it any way."
The Tar Heels had three women competing in the heptathlon. Xenia Rahn finished second with 5,483 points, earning eight points towards the team score. Emily Godwin set a new personal record at 5,190 and earned four points for the women's squad placing fifth. Tory Kemp finished in sixth and with 5,151 points, a new personal record, giving the team three points. Godwin's score now ranks her as the seventh best junior heptathlete in the world, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations.
The decathletes had similar success. Joe Hutchinson, Ryan Ramsey and Paul Haley went four-five-six respectively. Hutchinson ended with the day with 6,862 points. Ramsey finished with 6,809 and a new personal record. Haley also set a personal record at 6,775. Between the three decathletes, the team earned twelve points.
Chris DiLorenzo finished his last ACC Outdoor Championship meet today. The senior threw 57-3 ½ (17.46 meters) and placed fourth overall.
Sarah Howard finished fifth in the women's shot put with her final throw being her best. She threw 51-8 ¼ (15.75 meters) and gave the women's team four points.
Cameron Overstreet finally edged over her PR with a new height of 13-8 ½ (4.18 meters) in the pole vault and placed fourth overall. Overstreet extended her second-best mark in school history with that vault. Amanda Benninghoff, a freshman, cleared 13-0 ¾ (3.98 meters) for a new PR and placed eighth overall.
Dan Mykityshyn and Steve Magnuson both placed in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Mykityshyn took sixth at 9:01.17, a new personal record, and Magnuson finished seventh at 9:02.64.
Roy Smith ran 14.01 in the 110-meter hurdles shattering his PR and setting the fifth-fastest time in school history in the event. Smith's time qualifies him for the finals tomorrow. Devon Carter also qualified for the final with 14.13.
Cory Nicholls cruised in his heat of the 800 and set a new PR at 1:49.51. With his victory in the heat Nicholls automatically qualifies for the final.
Ceo Ways and Kwame Donyinah both qualified for the men's 400 finals tomorrow. Ways won his heat and automatically qualified while Donyinah earned the last qualifying mark at 46.84, a new PR.
The team has had some slips, but other members have responded when the opportunity arises. Meaders said that's a characteristic of a great team.
"You're not going to have everybody good on the same day," said Meaders. "But when you have somebody you expect to qualify not qualify, then someone else has to step up and carry the ball. That's what you're seeing. We had a couple of athletes who sort of had a bad day and didn't advance, but somebody else picked it up and ran with it. That's the strength of a good team. We saw that at Florida. We saw that at High Point. We saw that at Stanford. Across all the disciplines: sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws, distance events... We've got good people. So the rule is, 'Don't panic.' Somebody else is there. It's a team event not just individual."
The team has been led by a handful of underclassmen so far, something Meaders touched on.
"It just goes to show the strength of our recruiting," Meaders said. "Coach VanAlstyne, Coach Langley, Coach Hudson and Coach Rubin have all done fantastic jobs. If you look at the people who Coach Langley has brought in... Emily Godwin is doing exceptionally well in the multis. Coach Rubin brought in Ceo who has run great in the short and medium sprints. He's made his name known on the national level as a true freshman. If you look outside that, we have Kwame Donyinah from Charlotte who ran exceptionally well. Cory Nicholls also a freshman ran really well. On the ladies side we just continue to show we are recruiting the right people and we have the program going in the right direction. The future of this program is real exciting."
Florida State leads the men's competition with 48 points and trailing behind at 46 is Duke. Syracuse has 33 points after two days in third place while UNC comes in at fourth with 23. Rounding out the top five is Virginia Tech with 21.
On the women's side Florida State also has the top spot with 67 points. In second place is Virginia Tech with 37. Tied for third place is UNC and Duke with 33 points and in fifth place is NC State with 30 points.
The last day of competition for the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships is tomorrow and will start at 11 a.m. with the men's javelin. Live results and a link to a video stream can be found on Goheels.com. At the end of the day a full recap of performances and results will also be on Goheels.com.
Carolina All-ACC Honorees
Xenia Rahn - Heptathlon, 2nd
Players Mentioned
