CHARLOTTE, NC--Matthew Elliott captured the 800 meter run and the Winthrop Eagles added another NCAA qualifier to the list this past weekend at the Charlotte 49'ers meet as junior Ashley Howard won the discus and qualified for the NCAA Regionals for the second straight year.
Winthrop will be home this week as it hosts the Asics/Winthrop Invitational at the Irwin Belk Track beginning Thursday afternoon with the Heptathlon and Decathlon, Friday with field events and trials and Saturday at 11am with finals. The admission is free and all are invited to enjoy some excellent performances at the Irwin Belk Track
Howard's throw of 159 feet-1 inch easily surpassed the competition as well as the NCAA qualifying mark. She now joins high jumper Jason Williams as qualifiers for the NCAA East Regional and both currently rank in the NCAA's top five performers in their respective events.
"As I said last week it was only a matter of time before Ashley popped one out there," said Winthrop head coach Ben Paxton..
The Eagles also scored another victory in Charlotte as Matthew Elliot continued to assault the record book with his first place finish in the 800 meters. Elliott set a new school record 1:51.74. He also finished third in the 1500m as well. Freshman Keary Simms leaped 48-3 to claim third place .Simms leap broke the old school record by over a foot and is close to the NCAA mark of 15.00m. Sophomore Travis Coleman broke his school record in the hammer throw with a heave of 154-6 good for sixth place. Other top finishers included Carrie Phillips (3rd) in the 5000m in 17:43.4, Carly Moss (4th ) in the 3000m in 11:12.7, Daryl Green (5th and 6th ) in the 400m, 48.18 and 200m, 22.01, Dexter Young (5th) in the high jump in 6'5", Tyler Hudgins (5th) in the 2000m steeple in 6:50.03 and Brooke Spencer (6th) in the 5000m in 18:29.
" We cannot wait to get back home and get everybody healthy and rolling. We have two other athletes (Elliot and Jared Baird) that are on the verge of qualifying. If we get Kandrick rolling, it could be a great year for the Eagles on the national level," says Paxton.
