TSU as TAAC Track Champions

From Special Reports

The Samford University men and University of Central Florida women enjoyed strong second-day showings at the 2000 Trans America Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships on Saturday, helping each pull away and claim a conference title at Troy State’s Jesse H. Colley Track.

Samford, which trailed by 20 points following Friday’s events, won seven of 29 events in the final day to pull away from defending champion Troy State and claim its first TAAC team championship in the sport. The Bulldogs finished with 184 points, followed by Troy State’s 154, Jacksonville’s 128 and Campbell’s 102.

In men’s competition, Samford athletes set three conference records, led by Derrick Moore’s time of 14.12 in the 110-meter hurdles that blasted a 1998 time of 14.62 set by Florida International’s Rod Davis. Aaron Bishop’s time of 9:23.26 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase also broke the 1998 record of 9:31.35 set by Florida International’s Gaby Rodriguez. Josh Jones rounded out the afternoon with a 15-foot jump in the pole vault, besting the 14-6 mark set by Samford’s Heath Lewis in 1997.

The Bulldogs also finished first in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run, 400-meter intermediate hurdles and men’s shot put.

In the women’s competition, UCF has now won three of the last four TAAC championships after outdistancing runner-up Jacksonville, 154-129. Defending champion Troy State finished third with 108 points, Campbell fourth with 101 and Samford fifth with 93.

Six conference records were broken on the women’s side, including two by Georgia State’s Sarah Howard in the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs. Both records surpassed previous bests set by Howard during last year’s conference meet. She improved her time from 10:23.18 to 10:13.34 in the 3,000 and from 17:55.55 to 17:43.50 in the 5,000.

Troy State’s Alisha Denson also continued her remarkable freshman season in the high jump with a TAAC record 5-1014 effort. The effort surpassed the 1997 mark of 5-6 set by Florida International’s Anita Gilland.

Other records set Saturday included: Jacksonville’s Sara Robertson in the pole vault (11-6), Samford’s Shana Ely (2:11.53) in the 800-meter run and Jacksonville’s Safiya Davy in the 100-meter high hurdles (14.0).

Central Florida’s Katara Beard was named Outstanding Performer of the championship on the women’s side, while Samford’s Derrick Moore earned the honor for the men, as voted on by league coaches. Central Florida coach Marcia Wentworth was named Women’s Coach of the Year, while Samford’s Glenn McWaters earned Men’s Coach of The Year honors.