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Wednesday, 22 February 2012 21:16 |
 Women’s indoor track athletes practice in Holmes Convocation Center. Dewey Mullis | The Appalachian
The athletes from Appalachian State’s indoor track and field team will battle it out in the 2012 Southern Conference Championships Thursday and Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
Last year at this time, both the men’s and women’s teams claimed the SoCon indoor title - and they’re poised to do it again.
“We are in a position to repeat, both men and women,” head coach John Weaver said. “We’ve just got to have what’s necessary to do that. We’ve got to be prepared, because there’s a lot of challenges to this.”
Last year’s win was the third consecutive conference win for the men and the ninth in 11 years for the women. That makes Appalachian a point of interest for many other schools.
“We’ve got a target on our back,” Coach Weaver said. “And when you’ve got a target on your back, you’ve got to be up to it.”
Appalachian is favored again for 2012, according to the most recent power ranking, which is determined by the schools’ top times and scores through Feb. 20.
In the men’s rankings, Appalachian has 188, while Samford follows with 149 and Western Carolina trails in third with 112.
On the women’s side, Appalachian sits at first in the rankings with 158, Samford in second with 114 and Western Carolina with 89.
Coach Weaver’s expectations are not raised by Appalachian’s high ranking and he’s been telling his team to simply play to the best of their abilities.
One athlete whose abilities the Mountaineers will count on is senior thrower Caleb Poplin.
“I’ve been doing pretty good all year,” Poplin said. “We had a meet in Winston Salem and I threw 49 ft. I improved from fifth in conference to second in conference with that throw, so that kind of sealed the deal for me to go.”
A few Mountaineers are hoping to repeat their performances from last season. ASU senior high jumper Darius Purcell set the championship record last year, with a jump of 7-1.75. Senior Asia Dunlap, returning to conference for her fourth year, will run the 400-meter, 800-meter and 4x-400-meter this Thursday and Friday.
“I was expecting to run these events in conference from the beginning of the season,” Dunlap said. “I’m expecting to break the 400 indoor record. Also, I’m thinking about getting on the podium for the 400 and 800, either in second or first place.”
Results for the championships will be posted live on soconsports.com during the meet.
Story: LEIGH ROBERTS, Senior Sports Reporter
Photo: DEWEY MULLIS, Intern Photographer |
