By: by Scott Lipsky
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -The Atlantic Sun Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships are at the end of February, and Kennesaw State’s men’s team is already rounding into form, as demonstrated by their performance this weekend at the Jimmy Carnes Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
Senior jumper Jerome McKinzie is potentially headed to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., in March, after earning a provisional qualifying mark in the high jump with a clearing leap of 2.20 meters, edging out the minimum height of 2.14 meters required by the NCAA to be included in the event. Whether or not he ultimately will qualify is based on the performance of jumpers around the country through the rest of the indoor season. The leap broke his old school record of 2.14 meters and won the event.
The jump currently stands as the third highest in Division I this season, and is the highest among all Atlantic Sun Conference athletes this season. A mark of 2.24 meters would give McKinzie an automatic spot in the Championship.
Five events were won by the Owls overall, who faced-off against athletes from several Florida schools, including A-Sun rivals Jacksonville and North Florida. In addition, seven school marks were broken by the Black and Gold, who have become veterans at setting school records this season. After re-writing four marks at their first meet, the Appalachian State Invitational, they went ahead and broke three more records at the Niswonger Invitational last week, held at East Tennessee State.
Reigning A-Sun Field Athlete of the Week Josh McNair continued his solid performances during the indoor season. The senior thrower won both the Shot Put and Weight Throw events, breaking his Shot Put school record with a heave of 16.93 meters.
Freshman hurdler Tremaine Grant followed the lead of his senior teammates, setting the second school record of his young career on Sunday. After setting the 55 Meter High Hurdles mark with a 7.75 second run at the Appalachian State Invitational, he bettered his time with a 7.69 second effort in Gainesville.
Following the trend of breaking one's own records, sophomore pole vaulter Adam Reed cleared the mark of 4.60 meters (15'1") that he had set last week at the Niswonger Invitational, with a vault of 4.75 meters (15'7") to replace his own record.
Also replacing his own school record was junior sprinter Antonio Logan, who set a new standard for the 200 Meter Dash on a 200 Meter track. His time of 22.55 outdid his previous record-setting performance of 22.79, which he had pulled off at Clemson last February. The mark is just .3 seconds off of the overall indoor school record for the event, which is held by Travis Benton. Benton, a freshman, set the school record of 22.25 seconds at the Niswonger Invitational last week. The facility on the campus of East Tennessee State has a track that is 280 meters long, making it necessary to distinguish the two records.
Freshman Ethan Kasson finished in third place in the 400 Meter Dash, logging a time of 49.73 seconds and beating his collegiate best performance of 49.86 seconds, which was set in his first meet of the season at Appalachian State on December 5.
The Owls have one more tune-up before the A-Sun Championships when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the UNC Invitational, which takes place February 12. The A-Sun Championships are at East Tennessee State on February 26-27.
JIMMY CARNES INVITATIONAL- OFFICIAL RESULTS
High Jump
1) Jerome McKinzie- 2.20m (7’2.5”)*** !!!
3) Cameron Zeman- 2.05m (6’8.75”)
Pole Vault
2) Adam Reed- 4.75m (15’7”)***
4) Jake Bridges- 4.5m (14’9”)
8) Aaron Chamblee- 4.2m (13’9.25”)
Long Jump
8) Tyler Riberdy- 6.33m (20’9.25”)
9) Jake Bridges- 6.27m (20’7”)
12) Justin Patterson- 6.04m (19’9.75”)
16) Chris Moukeka- 5.76m (18’10.75”)
Triple Jump
3) Chris Moukeka- 13.51m (44’4”)
Shot Put
1) Joshua McNair- 16.93m (55’6.5”)***
3) Casey Reynolds- 14.25m (46’9”)
5) Tyler Crow- 12.46m (40’10.5”)
Weight Throw
1) Joshua McNair- 17.81m (58’5.25”)
7) Tyler Crow- 10.74m (35’3”)
55 Meter Dash
4) Travis Benton- 6.47 seconds
5) Frank Minton- 6.51 seconds
9) Antonio Logan- 6.56 seconds
18) Jemir Martinez- 6.71 seconds
23) Jake Bridges- 6.83 seconds
55 Meter Hurdles
4) Tremaine Grant- 7.69 seconds***
8) Jeremy Easley- 8.41 seconds
200 Meter Dash
3) Antonio Logan- 22.55 seconds***
4) Frank Minton- 22.64 seconds
5) Travis Benton-22.68 seconds
6 James Verdi-22.69 seconds
7) Ethan Kasson-22.70 seconds
12) David Tansey- 23.21 seconds
400 Meter Dash
3) Ethan Kasson- 49.73 seconds***
5) James Verdi- 49.82 seconds
6) David Tansey- 50.53 seconds
9) Joshua James- 50.90 seconds
14) Tremaine Grant- 51.45 seconds
32) Jeremy Easley- 54.55 seconds
800 Meter Run
3) Gianni Catalano- 1:56.45
4) Michael Guntner- 1:57.67
11) Kyle Pearson- 2:00.43
One Mile Run
4) Piotr Witczak- 4:16.63
7) Jaakko Nieminen- 4:19.27
12) Daniel Grass- 4:29.61
3000 Meter Run
3) Nabil Hamid- 8:46.78
4) Nathan Haskins- 8:48.37
9) Steven Murray- 9:02.08
27) Andrew Greeson- 9:26.42
4x400 Meter Relay
1) Kennesaw State ‘A’- 3:21.17***
1-David Tansey, 2-Ethan Kasson, 3-Jemir Martinez, 4-James Verdi
4) Kennesaw State ‘B’- 3:24.26
1-Tremaine Grant, 2-Travis Benton, 3-Frank Minton, 4-Daniel Grass
6) Kennesaw State ‘C’- 3:27.96
1-Brian Graham, 2-Gianni Catalano, 3-Piotr Witczak, 4-Mike Guntner
Distance Medley Relay
1) Kennesaw State ‘A’- 10:33.58
Heptathalon
2) Brian Graham- 4189 points
55 Meter Dash-6.88 seconds- 3rd-757
Long Jump- 5.69m (18’8”)-9th-521
Shot Put- 9.36m-(30’8.5”)-7th-447
High Jump-1.64m (5’4.50”)-5th-496
55 Meter Hurdles- 8.16 seconds- 1st-808
Pole Vault- 3.40m (11’1.75”)-5th-457
1000 Meter Run- 2:56.12 -4th-703
3) Kegan Thurman- 4173 points
55 Meter Dash- 6.87 seconds- 2nd-760
Long Jump- 6.09m (19’11.75”)-4th-606
Shot Put- 8.72m (28’7.5”)-8th- 409
High Jump-1.85m (6’0.75”)-1st-670
55 Meter Hurdles- 9.73 seconds-8th-456
Pole Vault- 4.00m (13’1.5”)-2nd-617
1000 Meter Run- 3:00.92-6th-655
***SCHOOL RECORD
!!!NCAA PROVISIONAL MARK
