 AJ Dohanic speeds through the hurdles Sunday afternoon as part of the Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field championship. Photo by Tommy Penick | The Appalachian The men won the cross country and indoor track and field championships earlier this year and claimed the triple crown by scoring 263.5 points to top second-place Western Carolina at this weekend’s SoCon Outdoor Championships in Boone.
The top finish marks the 17th SoCon outdoor title in school history and the fourth time the team has earned the triple crown.
Senior Phil Mitchell claimed the SoCon title in the men’s 10,000m race Saturday with a winning time of 31:32.42 and took the 5,000m title Sunday with a 14:53.82 finish.
“It was awesome,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t very confident that I would to be able to win the 5,000m so to win both – I’m just on top of the world.”
Junior Malcolm Styers helped lift the Mountaineers to the front of the pack, posting a new personal best throw of 194-11 in the hammer, winning the event and moving him to third in the ASU record books.
“It feels great to do it for my teammates and to do it for Appalachian,” Styers said.
Styers scored 30 points and won three events for the Mountaineers on his way to earning Most Valuable Field Performer and Most Outstanding Athlete honors for the event.
Freshman sprinter Landon Powell helped the Mountaineers’ cause enormously, taking first in the men’s 100m and 200m dashes.
“I came here as a freshman trying to do the very best I could,” Powell said, “and with hard work and my team pushing me to win I was able to accomplish everything that I did.”
His 100m finish of 10.50 marks the first time since 2003 the Mountaineers have won the event.
Powell earned SoCon Freshman of the Year, as well as Most Valuable Track Performer, and head coach John Weaver won SoCon Coach of the Year, giving the Mountaineers a clean sweep of the men’s awards.
The ASU women could not keep up with the Western Carolina Catamounts, partly because of events like the 400m dash, in which Western claimed the top four spots and 40 team points.
However, efforts from athletes like Danielle Thorpe put points on the board for the women, allowing them to finish runner-up over third-place Elon.
Thorpe finished her ASU career winning her third straight outdoor triple jump title, setting a new SoCon record with a personal-best 43-2.25 leap.
In total, seven Mountaineers from the men’s team and six from the women’s team were nominated to the SoCon All-Freshman team.
“There are big things to look forward to,” Powell said “We’re the 2010 SoCon champions and we have the triple crown.”
Story: JOHN LASSITER, Intern Sports Reporter
Photo: TOMMY PENICK, Photographer |
