May 31, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --- Top-three performances from Dominique Jackson in the 800 meters and Patience Coleman in the high jump helped lead the North Carolina women's track and field team to a seventh-place finish at Saturday's East Regional meet at Florida State. A fourth-place effort in the triple jump by Austin Davis and a sixth-place run by Charles Cox in the 400 helped the Tar Heel men finish 11th.
Jackson finished less than a half-second behind Penn's Jesse Carlin to finish second in 2 minutes, 6.30 seconds. The Fairfield, Calif., freshman earned an automatic berth in next month's NCAA meet and picked up eight team points for Carolina. Coleman, a freshman from Durham, had her best effort of the season in the high jump, clearing 5-11 1/4 (1.81 meters) to take third and collect six points for the Tar Heels.
Freshman LaToya James will join Jackson and Coleman at the NCAA meet in Des Moines. James ran her best time of the season in the finals of the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 57.02 to finish fourth.
Elsewhere on the track, Tar Heels Megan Kaltenbach and Brie Felnagle finished ninth and 11th, respectively, in the 1500 meters. Morgan Stengel was 16th in the steeplechase in 10:50.03. Mary Angell took 28th in the shot put, while the 1,600-meter relay team of Jackson, James, Christie Johnson and Callie Pottinger was ninth in 3:39.81.
On the men's side, Davis earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place effort in the triple jump. Davis' top mark of 52-6 (16.00m) was a season-best for the Durham freshman and earned five team points for Carolina. Donte Nall was 30th in the triple jump with a leap of 47-5 3/4 (14.47m). Parker Smith was 12th in the pole vault with a top clearance of 16-1 1/4 (1.91m).
On the track, Cox earned three points for the Tar Heels with a sixth-place time of 46.45 in the 400. The 1,600-meter relay team of
Ryan Booker, Cox,
Ian Williamson and
Reggie Berry finished eighth in 3:08.10.
Virginia Tech took the women's title with 92 points, while Florida State captured the men's crown with 88.5 points.
