Feb. 9, 2008
Complete Results
New York, N.Y. -
Brie Felnagle opened up her 2008 campaign on Saturday with a dominant performance in the 3,000 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City. Felnagle eclipsed the NCAA automatic mark of 9:15.80 with a race of 9:09.57, less than 10 seconds shy of the school record. In other action, Austin Davis claimed the triple jump with a leap of 50-06.25 to reach the provisional standard.
Felnagle had not raced during the 2008 season after her All-America performance during the cross country season but she opened it with a bang as she dominated the women's 3,000 winning the race by more than 12 seconds and tallying Carolina's first automatic qualifying time of the year. Felnagle's 9:09.57 was less than 10 seconds shy of Shalane Flanagan's Carolina record of 9:00.22.
Also picking up a victory for the Tar Heels was Austin Davis who won the triple jump with his provisional mark leap of 50-06.25. Davis had been agonizingly close to equaling the provisional mark in his previous two meets falling less than an inch shy but was able to pick up his first qualifying mark as a Tar Heel.
Tyra Johnson ran her best race of the year in the 200 as she placed ninth in a highly competitive field with a time of 24.12, .02 shy of the provisional standard. A pair of men also competed in the 200 with Charles Cox completing the race in 22.09 for 30th place and Reggie Berry finishing in 22.78 for 59th.
Dominique Jackson recorded a 14th place finish in the 800 with a race of 2:11.89.
Adam Smith and
Andrew Rotz took part in the men's 800 with Smith taking 22nd in 1:53.38 and Rotz not far behind in 28th with a time of 1:55.82.
In the 4x400 meter relay the men's team placed 16th in a time of 3:17.98, while the women were not to be outdone with their fifth place finish with a time of 3:44.40.
In the weight throw Jocelyn White claimed another top 15 finish as she recorded a toss of 56-02.50 for 11th on the women's side. Freshman Walter Henning was outdone by just one man on the men's side as he finished second with a throw of 68-01.50 for another provisional mark.
Fellow freshman Patience Coleman has not been able to clear the illustrious 6-0 mark as a collegiate but equaled her best mark of the year again in the high jump with a leap of 5-10. Donte Nall cleared 6-10.25 on the men's side as he tied for fourth on the day.
The Tar Heels will split up next week as several athletes will head to Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Classic, the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. or will stay in Chapel Hill for the Carolina Chick-fil-A Invitational.
