DAY ONE RESULTS

DAY ONE TEAM STANDINGS

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ---- Samford Track and Field had an excellent opening day at the 2013 Southern Conference Championships at the JDL Fast Track, as both the women's and men's teams are in first place through the first day of competition.  Additionally, five individual Bulldogs won their respective events while numerous others made it to the podium with top-three finishes.
 
“We feel good about the position we're in,” said Head Coach Rod Tiffin, “and we are excited about testing our Samford pride tomorrow.  It will definitely be the most exciting second day of competition since I have been here.  This is what we have trained for and to see us put ourselves in this position is exciting.”
 
Lauren D'Alessio turned in Samford's first championship performance on the track Saturday, winning the women's 3,000 meters with a time of 9:51.06.  Freshman teammate Rachel Roberts finished right behind D'Alessio, placing second in 9:52.58 to give the Bulldog women 18 quick team points for the day.
 
Samford earned its fifth-straight men's pole vault title as Ryan Cook took the event with a height of 16-0.5 (4.89m).  The Bulldogs swept the top three spots as Ben Davies placed second with an identical height to Cook while defending outdoor champion Owen Wagoner placed third, clearing 15-6.5 (4.74m).  Steven Bastien added more team points with a sixth-place finish with a personal-best height of 15-0.75 (4.59m).
 
In addition to his points in the pole vault, Bastien earned a convincing win in the men's long jump, taking the title with a school-record distance of 23-7.25 (7.19m).  This beats his old school record of 23-3.25 (7.09m), set at the Samford Multi and Invitational two weeks ago.  Brandon Bassett added another team point with an eighth-place finish (21-11, 6.68m).
 
Samford's final two titles of the day were a sweep in the men's and women's high jump, with Bob Elliot II taking the men's title (6-8, 2.03m) and Chenelle Terry winning the women's (5-8.75, 1.75m).  The Bulldogs placed three others in the top five in the men's event with Tyler Kemp in second (6-8, 2.03m), Bo Ackerson-Gilroy in fourth (6-6, 1.98m) and Bassett in fifth (6-6, 1.98m).
 
Newcomer Sidney Jordan, a sophomore football player at Samford, made an impressive debut Saturday by placing third in the men's shot put and setting a new school record with a best throw of 50-4 (15.34m).
 
Samford's two distance medley relay squads earned spots on the podium, with the men placing second and the women third.  The men's team of Layton Dorsett, Brandon Hazouri, Henry Stevens-Carty and Luke Weishaar finished in 10:06.61, less than a second behind Appalachian State in first.  The women's squad of Rachel Wooten, Anna Laura Irvine, Danielle Blanco and D'Alessio placed third in 12:05.20.
 
Emily Allen placed third in the women's long jump Saturday, leaping a personal-best distance of 18-10 (5.74m).  Cope added another team point with an eighth-place finish (17-4.25, 5.29m).
 
In the women's pentathlon, all three of the Bulldogs competitors placed in the top eight, earning team points.  Ashley Cope finished as the event runner-up, placing second with 3,332 points.  Christian McGuire placed sixth (3,214) while Leslie Graf finished eighth (3,053).
 
Through four of the heptathlon's seven events, Samford has a stranglehold over the event with all six competitors in the top six spots.  Bastien is the current leader with 2,849 points.
 
Samford qualified numerous individuals to tomorrow's running-event finals.  Cope finished fourth in women's 60-meter hurdles (8.93) to qualify for the finals along with Davies (5th, 8.34) and Ackerson-Gilroy (6th, 8.42) for the men.  Defending champion Justin Emerson finished second in the men's 60-meter dash prelims (6.84) and will be joined by Wagoner (5th, 6.93) in tomorrow's finals.
 
Marie Demedicis will get a chance to defend her 800-meter title from last season, as she qualified for the finals with a fourth-place finish Saturday (2:12.80).  2012 runner-up Anna Laura Irvine will compete alongside her after finishing fifth in the prelims (2:13.46).  Newcomer Nathan Hendershot continues to be a key addition to the middle-distance squad, as he won the men's 800-meter prelims (1:53.94) and will move on to tomorrow's finals along with Adam Jones (5th, 1:55.00).  Jonathon Bush qualified for two events, as he will run in the finals for the 400-meter (4th, 50.12) and 200-meter dash (8th, 22.87).
 
Competition concludes tomorrow at the 2013 Indoor Track and Field Championships, with events beginning at 9:15 a.m. ET.