May 2, 2004

BOONE, N.C.- Day One of the 2004 Southern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships began with rain showers, but finished under sunny skies with Western Carolina's women's team in second place, while WCU's men are pacing the field after the first day. Appalachian's women are carrying a 29-point lead and WCU's men own a 12-point edge on ASU after the first day of competition.

In women's action, Chattanooga's Kathleen Turchin cruised to the win in the 10,000-meter run. The Moc rookie was nearly two minutes faster than her nearest competitor en route to her first SoCon title. The Mountaineer's Kelly Rosborough finished second, while the Catamounts' Melanie Cooper placed third.

For the second consecutive year, Josh Lee won the SoCon javelin championship.

Laura Tieszen and Suzanne Makinson put on a show in the women's pole vault with a pair of NCAA regional qualifying efforts. Tieszen won the event and set a new SoCon all-time best by clearing the bar at 13-feet, 1.5-inches. Makinson fell short of the winning mark and took second at 12-feet, 4-inches.

Georgia Southern's Lindy Petteway hurled the javelin 132-feet, 9-inches to claim the championship. Tieszen, the pole vault winner, finished second in the event.

On the men's side, the Mountaineers' Ernest Wiggins, coasted across the line in his 100m prelim with a regional qualifying time of 10.35 seconds. The Catamounts' T. Alford also qualified for the regional meet at 10.42 seconds.

Western Carolina's Wes Willoughby won the pole vault with a final mark of 15-feet even. Appalachian's Jeff Fiorello finished second, while teammate Joe Irvin and WCU's Christian Benson shared third with matching performances of 13-feet, 11.75-inches.

Xavier Godard won the long jump title at the 2004 SoCon Outdoor Championships.

WCU's Xavier Godard came up winning the long jump (23-feet, 11.5 inches), just 1.5 inches shy of the regional qualifying standard. Fellow Catamount Josh Lee claimed the javelin title with a winning toss of 190-feet, 6-inches.

Sunday's competition begins with the decathlon and heptathlon events getting underway at 8:30 a.m. The field events get into full swing at 12:30 p.m. and the running events get started at 1:30 p.m. with the 4x100m relay. For complete results, visit SoConSports.com.

Men - Team Scoring- 6 Events Scored
1) Western Carolina 82.5
2) Appalachian State 70.5
3) Chattanooga 34
4) Furman 16
5) Citadel 10
6) Wofford 8
7) East Tenn. State 7
8) UNC Greensboro 5
9) Davidson 1






Women - Team Scoring- 6 Events Scored
1) Appalachian State 69
2) Western Carolina 40
3) Georgia Southern 38
4) Chattanooga 36
5) Coll. of Charleston 14
6) Wofford 11
7) Davidson 7
8) Furman 6
9) Citadel 5
9) UNC Greensboro 5
11) Elon 3