University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships
Kemp's All-ACC Performance Leads UNC In Day One of ACCs
February 26, 2016 | Track & Field
BOSTON – Tory Kemp earned All-ACC honors for the second time in her career taking third in the pentathlon at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Kemp posted an aggregate scored of 4,052 and ranks third all-time at UNC in the event.
“I'm really excited about the first day of competition for us,” head coach Harlis Meaders said. “The women are off to a fantastic start. Tory Kemp and Emily Godwin did a fantastic job. They were both able to get valuable points for us and it's great for Tory to get third all-time at UNC. At the end of the day the women's DMR competed exceptionally well and finished fourth in this competition, which is an excellent job for those kids.
“Alex Cooke had a lifetime best throw in the biggest meet of her career and showed tremendous heart. Avana Story has been a valuable asset to our team over the last few years, but she just wasn't at her best today to score points for us. We'll be counting on her in the hammer outdoor.
“On the men's side Paul Haley and Nick Futia and competing extremely hard for us in the multis. AJ Hicks has done a tremendous job for us the last five years, but he was a little disappointed in his performance today. He's won that event before, but we're still hanging our hat on competing at the national level and getting first team All-America status.
“At the end of day one our young guys performed well and our women's team is off to a great start. Tomorrow is a pivotal day for us as most of the events are prelims. We'll need to survive those if we want to do what we're capable of.”
Tory Kemp and Emily Godwin were neck-and-neck in the women's pentathlon today. The two seemed to hover within 50 points of each other throughout the day, but it was Kemp who finished ahead of Godwin in the end.
Kemp started the day with a big PR in the 60mH running 8.59. She cleared 5-6 in the high jump and threw 39-3 (11.96 meters) in the shot put. She then jumped a season-best 18-10 (5.74 meters) in the long jump to go to fourth overall in the competition. Kemp's 2:22.03 800 was her best of the season by far and the fastest she's ran since 2013.
Godwin timed in at 9.00 in the 60mH and nearly matched her PR in the high jump. She cleared 5-9 ¾ (1.77 meters) and finished as the top competitor in that event. Godwin threw 38-0 ¼ (11.59 meters) in the shot put and jumped 17-11 (5.46 meters) in the long jump. She finished her 800 in 2:19.69. Godwin finished the competition in sixth with 4,001 points.
The women's team also earned points from the DMR team which took fourth at the meet. Stella Radford, Jewel Christian, Blake Dodge and Josette Norris, all sophomores, ran the relay in 11:23.57. Their fourth-place finish earned five points for the women's team.
AJ Hicks earned the men's team their first points of the competition with his fourth-place finish in the men's weight throw. Hicks had a couple massive throws that ended in fouls that could have earned him All-ACC honors. His farthest throw on the day was 69-9 ½ (21.27 meters).
Paul Haley ended the first day of the men's heptathlon with 2,959 points and in fourth place. The defending champion in the event opened the day with a 7.25, 60-meter dash time. Haley only had one fair jump in the long jump portion going a distance of 22-3 ½ (6.79 meters). His shot put was 39-9 ¼ (12.12 meters) and he cleared 6-6 (1.98 meters) in the high jump. Nick Futia ended the day 15th in the heptathlon. Haley and Futia have the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1,000m tomorrow.
Avana Story just missed making the finals in the women's weight throw. Story finished 10th at 60-3 (18.36 meters). Alex Cooke took 11th with a personal best of 58-8 ¾ (17.90 meters).
The Tar Heels will compete in the second day of competition tomorrow with the beginning of most of the running events. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN 3 from 5-8. A recap of performances and results will be on GoHeels.com following the conclusion of each day.
The women's team ended the day in fourth with 14 points while the men are in eighth with 5 points.
“I'm expecting our teams to come in here and show no fear. The ACC is one of the toughest conferences out there and we've got some of the best performers nation-wide, but I feel like our kids are capable of competing at this level, so I'm excited to see us get there and be the Carolina I know we can be.”
Players Mentioned
