By: by Scott Lipsky
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The Kennesaw State men’s track and field team followed up a successful Friday at the Niswonger Invitational with a banner day on Saturday, as their athletes posted 13 top-ten finishes in their final day of competition at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tenn.
Sophomore distance runner Jaakko Nieminen lit up the track early on Saturday to get the team going. His 3000 Meter Run of 8:43.64 was good enough for the win in the race that took place on Saturday morning. It was the lone win of the weekend for the Owls, who made their presence felt in many other areas.
Senior throws specialist Josh McNair, who had a great performance in the Weight Throw on Friday, placing second, continued his solid weekend on Saturday, taking part in the Shot Put and finishing second in that event, as well, with a 54’2” toss on Saturday afternoon.
“There are a lot of technical things I need to work on at this point in the season,” said McNair, who, along with his teammates, had the opportunity to compete at the same venue that will hold the Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Championships at the end of February. “Coming into it I didn’t feel like I was 100%. Second place is good, but for me, it’s not about the place, it’s about distance, so I should be able to get a couple feet better.”
Freshmen sprinters Travis Benton and Tremaine Grant competed in the finals of their respective events, the 60 Meter Dash and the 60 Meter Hurdles, on Saturday, after qualifying in the preliminary rounds on Friday. Benton followed up a school-record 6.92 second performance in the preliminaries in the 60 Meter Dash with an almost equally impressive 6.94 second run in the finals on Saturday to finish fifth. Grant finished second in the 60 Meter Hurdles, with a time of 8.35, bettering his 8.39 run that got him into the finals.
“I was okay with my performance this weekend. There’s definitely room for improvement, but I’m still getting used to the 42” hurdles that we use indoor, as opposed to the 39” hurdles that I’m accustomed to,” said Grant, who was an All-American in the 400 Meter Hurdles during his time in high school. “I’m more of a finesse hurdler, focused on technique. With these high hurdles and at this distance, it requires more power than finesse. That’s something that I’m working on.”
Overall, the Owls finished in the top-ten in 15 of their events during the weekend, with two school records being broken. In addition to the 60 Meter Dash, Benton also broke Antonio Logan’s 200 Meter Dash record, sprinting to a time of 22.25 seconds in his 20th place performance.
The Owls return to action next week when they have duals against North Florida, Jacksonville, and Florida Atlantic at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Next week’s meet is one of the two remaining before the A-Sun Championship, which takes place February 26-27.
OFFICIAL RESULTS- NISWONGER INVITATIONAL- JANUARY 23-24, 2010
Men’s 60 Meter Dash
5 Benton, Travis FR 6.94 (6.92 in prelims)***
24 Minton, Frank FR 7.01
43 Logan, Antonio JR 7.07
45 Martinez, Jemir SO 7.08
118 Graham, Brian SO 7.47
Men’s 200 Meter Dash
20 Benton, Travis FR 22.25***
23 Kasson, Ethan FR 22.32
33 Verdi, James JR 22.50
36 Minton, Frank FR 22.51
58 Logan, Antonio JR 22.74
92 Martinez, Jemir SO 23.34
Men’s 400 Meter Dash
9 Verdi, James JR 49.82
10 Kasson, Ethan FR 49.86
24 Tansey, David SO 50.50
36 James, Joshua JR 51.03
59 Grant, Tremaine FR 51.91
126 Henley, Damarcus SO 58.11
Men’s 800 Meter Run
6 Catalano, Gianni JR 1:57.02
7 Witczak, Piotr JR 1:57.11
18 Grass, Daniel SO 1:57.70
19 Guntner, Michael JR 1:57.93
Men’s 3000 Meters
1 Nieminen, Jaakko SO 8:43.64
Men’s 5000 Meters
13 Hamid, Nabil FR 15:20.85
19 Haskins, Nathan SR 15:32.78
25 Murray, Steven JR 15:51.63
31 Johnson, Michael SR 16:06.65
Men’s 60 Meter Hurdles
2 Grant, Tremaine FR 8.35 (8.39 prelims)
48 Graham, Brian SO 9.03
56 Henley, Damarcus SO 9.23
Men’s 4x400 Meter Relay
4 Kennesaw State 'A' 3:18.78
Grant, Tremaine FR Kasson, Ethan FR
James, Joshua JR Verdi, James JR
9 Kennesaw State 'B' 3:22.32
Benton, Travis FR Tansey, David SO
Martinez, Jemir SO Easley, Jeremy SR
Men’s Distance Medley Relay
2 Kennesaw State 'A' 10:27.19
Grass, Daniel SO
Verdi, James JR
Guntner, Michael JR
Witczak, Piotr JR
Men’s High Jump
2 McKinzie, Jerome SR 2.05m 6-08.75
5 Zeman, Cameron FR 2.05m 6-08.75
6 Blythe, Will FR 1.95m 6-04.75
Men’s Pole Vault
8 Reed, Adam JR 4.60m 15-01.00
Men’s Triple Jump
17 Moukeka, Chris FR 13.50m 44-03.50
21 Riberdy, Tyler SO 13.15m 43-01.75
Men’s Shot Put
2 McNair, Joshua SR 16.51m 54-02.00
12 Reynolds, Casey FR 14.35m 47-01.00
Men’s Weight Throw
2 McNair, Joshua SR 18.10m 59-04.75
22 Reynolds, Casey FR 14.22m 46-08.00
***INDICATES SCHOOL RECORD
