Jan. 14, 2008
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -
The University of North Carolina track and field program recognized a pair of teams for their contributions at its Hall of Honor celebration Saturday night at the Carolina Club in Alumni Hall. The women's senior class of 1991 was recognized for its achievements during their time in Chapel Hill as the group claimed seven of a possible eight ACC Championships in its four years. The other team that garnered recognition was the 1985 men's cross country team that captured the ACC title and finished fifth in the NCAA National Championships, still the highest finish in school history.
Former Tar Heel great Tisha Waller served as the keynote speaker for the event that saw more than 200 people in attendance. In addition to the recognition ceremony, the banquet featured the yearly track and field and cross country team awards, given to those athletes who had standout performances in 2007. Brie Felnagle and Nick Owens pulled in both the indoor and outdoor MVP honors for their respective teams. Felnagle made it a clean sweep as she was named along with Alex Ray on the men's side as the cross country MVPs.
A complete list of awards and the members of the recognized team bios are below.
2007 Gene Anderson Student-Athlete Award UNC Women's Track & Field - Alison McGinnis
2007 Gene Anderson Student-Athlete Award UNC Men's Track & Field - Michael Rollins
2006 Gene Anderson Student Athlete Award UNC Women's Cross Country - Morgan Stengel
2006 Gene Anderson Student-Athlete Award UNC Men's Cross Country - Brock Baker
2007 Most Valuable Performer UNC Women's Cross Country - Brie Felnagle
2007 Most Valuable Performer UNC Men's Cross Country -
Alex Ray
2007 Freshman of the Year Women's Cross Country - Courtlin LaReau
2007 Joe Hilton Coaches Award UNC Women's Cross Country - Addie Bracy & Megan Kaltenbach
2007 Joe Hilton Coaches Award UNC Men's Cross Country - Alex Ray
2007 MVP UNC Women's Indoor Track & Field - Brie Felnagle
2007 MVP Women's Outdoor Track & Field - Brie Felnagle
2007 MVP UNC Men's Indoor Track & Field - Nick Owens
2007 MVP UNC Men's Outdoor Track & Field - Nick Owens
2007 Doc Seligman Freshman Field Performer UNC Women's Track & Field - Abby Kimball
2007 Doc Seligman Freshman Field Performer UNC Men's Track & Field - Mateo Sossah
2007 Dale Ranson Coaches Award UNC Women's Track & Field - Tyra Johnson
2007 Dale Ranson Coaches Award UNC Men's Track & Field - Ian Reynolds
2007 Dick Taylor Freshman Track Performer UNC Women's Track & Field - Vanneisha Ivy
2007 Dick Taylor Freshman Track Performer UNC Men's Track & Field - Adam Smith
1991 Women's Senior Class
Earned seven straight ACC Track Titles
Indoor 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
Outdoor 1988, 1989, 1990
Jane Boulter Davies
Jane Boulter finished her career as one of the top cross country runners during her time at Carolina as she finished in the top 20 in the 1989 and 1990 ACC cross country championships. Along with her success on the cross country trail, Boulter claimed an ACC title with the 4x800 relay team.
Sharon Couch Seagrave
Sharon Couch could be labeled as the woman who started the Tar Heel Olympic tradition, as she became the first Carolina female athlete in the Olympics in 1992 when she finished sixth in the long jump. She would return to the world stage in 2000 where she competed in the 100-meter hurdles in Sydney. Couch is a four-time All-America in three different events;55-m hurdles, long jump and 400-meter relay. She still owns the top indoor long jump in school history. Couch won eight ACC titles on her way to claiming MVP honors at three ACC Championships. She also became the first Tar Heel women's student-athlete to win the coveted Patterson Medal, awarded to the University's most outstanding senior. She now resides in Atlanta Georgia with her husband Loren Seagrave and their 2 children.
Michelle Faherty
Michelle Faherty was a three-time All-America for the Tar Heels in the 3,200-meter relay team. Faherty opened her career with an ACC title in the 1988 indoor 800 in which she set the meet record. Faherty's name is still in the Carolina record books as her relay teams rank second through fifth in the indoor 3,200-meter relay times and fourth overall in the outdoor 3,200-meter relay. Michelle currently resides in Surrey, England with her husband Damon and their newborn Scarlet Rose (Oct. 13, 2007).
Kendra Mackey Warren
One of the best sprinters in UNC history, Mackey earned individual All-America honors in the 200 and was a member of the 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams. Mackey won 13 ACC titles and still ranks in the top five in five different events. The school record holder in the outdoor 100, Mackey also owns the second-best times in the indoor and outdoor 200. She won a gold medal in the 1991 US Olympic festival in Los Angeles and was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary team for indoor and outdoor track. Warren worked for eight years in the Tar heel Track and Field program seven as a sprint and hurdle coach and one in a administrative role. She's now the Head Women's Track and Field Coach at Virginia Commonwealth University. She resides in Richmond Virginia with her husband Terrence and son Jazz.
Debbie Mann
Debbie Mann was a consistent top 10 finisher for the Tar Heels in the shot put and discus. Mann finished sixth at the 1990 Outdoor ACC Championships in the discus after back-to-back fifth-place finishes in 1988 and 1989. Mann left Chapel Hill with the fourth-longest discus throw in school history.
Jeanne Peterson
Jeanne Peterson captured two ACC titles during her time in the Carolina blue. The 1990 10,000 meter champion repeated her impressive performance with another title in the 1991 outdoor ACC Championships. Peterson still holds the fourth-best time in school history in the 10,000 meter run. Jeanne qualified and competed in the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 in 1990 and the 5,000 in 1991. She competed in the 1996 & 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials, Peterson represented the US in the Marathon at the 1997 World Championships. She competed in the 1996 (finishing in the top 10) & 2000 Olympic Marathon. She currently resides in Massapequa, NY.
Karen Sahn
Karen Sahn finished in fifth-place in the 5,000 at the 1990 ACC Outdoor Championships. She was also a top five cross country runners for the Tar Heels. She was 30th-place in the ACC Cross Country Championships in 1990. She currently lives and works in the ski industry in Aspen Colorado.
Sonya Thomas
Sonya Thomas was an All-America performer for the Tar Heels as she earned four separate honors in two different relay events. Thomas was a member of the 1989 1,600-meter relay team that placed sixth nationally in the indoor and seventh in the outdoor. A six-time ACC title winner, Thomas still holds the second-best mark in the 400-meter hurdles in school history. She currently resides in Kenosha Wisconsin.
1985 Men's Cross Country Team
ACC Champions
5th at NCAA Championships
Michael Currinder
Michael Currinder was a consistent top three runner during the 1985 season. Michael placed fifth overall at the ACC Championships to earn All-ACC honors. Currinder followed up that performance by placing second and third on the team at the District III and the NCAA Championships. Mike's currently teaching humanities at the Taipei American School in Taiwan. He has been teaching overseas in Asia for the last 10 years and plans on moving to Japan next year.
Jim Farmer
Jim Farmer finished 36th in the 1985 NCAA Cross Country Championships en route to the first of two such honors in his career. Jim was a five-time All-America for the Tar Heels as he finished second in the nation in the 3,000 meters at the 1988 NCAA Indoor Championships and went back-to-back in the 5,000 meters in 1987 and 1988. Farmer still holds the top time in the indoor 3,000 in school history and ranks second in the outdoor 5,000.
Reginald Harris
Reggie Harris placed fifth at the ACC Championships in 1985 helping the Tar Heels to their ninth cross country championship as a sophomore. Reggie would become a strong runner for Carolina later in his career as he claimed an ACC title in the 10,000 meters as a senior in 1987. He now works as a Supervisory Economist for the U.S. Board of Labor Statistics, and resides in Atlanta with his two daughters Hannah and Sarah.
Eric Landis
Eric Landis placed fifth on the team at the Marquette Invitational during the 1985 season. Eric placed sixth on the team at the ACC Championships and finished as a close seventh runner at the District III and NCAA Championships. A Physician now, Eric lives in Charlotte with his wife and 2 children.
Michael McGowan
Michael McGowan was a top four performer for Carolina during the 1985 campaign. Michael finished 35th overall at the District III Championships after a 14th place finish in the ACC Championships. McGowan would be named the top freshman in the ACC in 1985 and would live up to the billing throughout his career. He still holds the fourth-best mark in the 10,000 meters in school history. In recent years, he has gained acclaim as the writer and director of "Saint Ralph", the latest cult-running hit. The movie released in 2004 and is available on DVD.
George Nicholas
Two-time All-America
George Nicholas paced the Tar Heels during the 1985 season from the get go as he opened the season with back-to-back wins at the Duke Tri-Meet and the Tar Heel Invitational. George broke the course record at the ACC Championships to claim the title and followed that up with a victory at the District III Championships before an All-America performance at the NCAA Championships where he placed 12th overall. Nicholas also earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters in 1986 and still holds top five school records in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
Bill Will
Bill Will scored at two of the most important meets of the 1985 season for Carolina when he finished fourth on the team at the District III and NCAA Championships. Will opened the season with top 10 finishes at the Duke Tri-Meet and the Tar Heel Invitational. He was also a two-time All-ACC selection in the 10,000 meter
Coach Chris Fox
After graduating from Auburn in 1983 with a degree in psychology, Coach Fox was hired as cross country and distance coach at North Carolina. An accomplished runner fox holds Auburn's school record in the 5000m indoors (13:44.73) and outdoors (13:34.14) and is also among the top five performers in the 3000m indoors and the 10,000m outdoors. After leaving UNC to pursue his own professional running career, Fox became a member of the Nike-Athletics West team from 1987-1994. He also competed at the national and world level with Brooks Sports from 1995-1998. In those stints, Fox ran the mile in 3:59.10, the 5000m in 13:21, the 10,000m in 27:53, and the marathon in 2:13.40. He Currently in his 4th season as Syracuse University's Head Cross Country and Track & Field coach, Fox's men and women's teams have been ranked in the USTFCCCA national polls.
Coach Dennis Craddock
Dennis Craddock has been at the helm of the North Carolina Track & Field program for 22 history making years. Craddock has led his teams to a remarkable 45 ACC titles, including a pair of ACC triple crowns (claiming the cross country, indoor and outdoor titles). The ACC has recognized Craddock as the coach of the year on 31 occasions. Twenty-four different athletes have claimed a national championship under the tutelage of Craddock.
