Friday, February 22, 2008

BLACKSBURG, Va. (Feb. 22, 2008) - The ETSU track and field team is making one final tune-up before next weekend's conference championships as a small contingent of Buccaneer athletes concluded day one of the Virginia Tech Challenge Friday evening inside the Rector Field House.

With a select number of track and field events in the books, a couple of ETSU athletes showcased its skills among the respectable field.  

Freshman Mike James (Palm Bay, Fla.) cut a few seconds off his time in the 60-meter hurdles Friday evening. James entered the day with a personal best of 8.34 in the event, and ended up finishing 14^th with a mark of 8.32. Freshman Zack Titman (Damascus, Va.) turned in a lifetime best in the 200m. Titman came away with a time of 22.44.

On the women's side junior Judy Johnson (Knoxville) continued her success in the 200m. After claiming gold at Clemson, Johnson placed sixth overall in the event; however, managed to cut some time off her personal best as she finished with a mark of 24.42. Sophomore Vicki Currie (Dumfries, Scotland) posted a top-15 finish in the 600m. Currie placed 12^th overall with her time of 1:38.62.

"We treated this meet as a tune-up going into next weekend's conference championships," added associate head coach Michelle Byrne. "The athletes went up against some great competition and came away with some lifetime bests, so this was a very productive night."

The second and final day begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. as the men's pole vault kicks off competition. Live results of the meet will be available by visiting http://www.flashresults.com/2008_Meets/indoor/VirginiaTechChallenge/.

A complete and full recap of the day's events will be available by visiting, www.ETSUBucs.com.