March 16, 2009

Complete Results
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WILMINGTON, N.C.—Senior Mitch Cooper (Virginia Beach, Va.) won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase to highlight the St. Andrews Presbyterian College men’s and women’s track & fields teams competition in its season-opening competition at the 2009 Seahawk Invitational hosted by UNC Wilmington on Friday and Saturday.

Senior Mitch Cooper (Pictured) won the 3000m Steeplechase at UNC Wilmington.
(Picture courtesy of Rebecca Maye)

The Knights track & field programs began its fourth season under first year head coach Jim Walters in a strong field dominated by NCAA Division I opponents including UNCW, Wake Forest University, Northeastern University, University of Buffalo, Winston-Salem State University, and Howard University.

Cooper won the 3000m steeplechase at the Seahawk Invitational for the second straight year with a time of 9:59.46, seven seconds ahead of sophomore teammate Doug Holt (Haddonfield, N.J.) in second place with a speed of 10:06.71. Junior James Lloyd (Lusby, Md.) also competed in the event and finished fourth at 11:11.65.

Cooper added a fourth place finish in the 5000m run, crossing the finish line in 15:40.80. Holt was seventh with a personal record (PR) time of 16:18.67 while four other Knights competed in the event including sophomore Jim Walls (Bear Creek, N.C.) in 16:46.47 (PR); Lloyd in 17:21.19; sophomore Tommy Wilson (Salisbury, N.C.) in 17:32.82 (PR); and junior Brad McKee (Kings Mountain, N.C.) in 17:55.15 (PR).

On the women’s side, senior Alyson Trovato (Cedar Park, Texas) had the Lady Knights best finish with an eighth place showing out of 22 runners in the 5000m run. Trovato had a PR time of 18:35.41 while freshman Tiffany Williams (Chesapeake, Va.) added a time of 20:25.86 in her first collegiate track & field competition.

Trovato also raced in the 1500m run and led a quartet of Knights in the event. Trovato missed her PR by just over a second with a time of 5:00.88, which was good for 14th place out of 25 entrants. Williams posted a time of 5:40.49 while sophomore Danielle Martin (Newport, N.C.) and freshman Rebecca Maye (Knightdale, N.C.) had times of 6:31.70 (PR) and 6:45.03, respectively.

Junior Tyler Lee (Hillsborough, N.C.) led the Lady Knights field competitors in three throwing events with a top-10 finish in all three disciplines. Lee set a new PR in the hammer throw with a chuck of 24.88m while she just missed her PR in the shot put by less than one-tenth of a meter with a distance of 8.41m. Lee added a launch of 27.09m in the discus throw. Sophomore Amy Tripson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also entered the shot put and supplied SAPC with a distance of 7.10m.

Junior Tyler Lee (pictured) competed in three throwing events for the Lady Knights in the Seahawk Invitational including the shot put.
(Picture courtesy of Amy Tripson)

Sophomore Katy Hutchings (Rockville, Md.) became the first St. Andrews’ women’s track & field athlete to compete in a jumping event in the program’s four year history this past weekend with a 3.64m finish in the long jump.

On the men’s side, senior Charles Phillips (Decatur, Ga.) and junior Matthew Rogers (Eatonton, Ga.) led the Knights field competitors.

In the jumping events, Phillips broke his school record PR in the high jump with a height of 1.80m. Phillips also added a 6.34m distance in the long jump. Junior Cameron Cofield (Chesapeake, Va.) also competed in the long jump adding a leap of 6.10m. Cofield just missed his PR in the triple jump by 3/100th of a meter with a distance of 12:28m. Phillips followed with a 12.05m triple jump.

In the throwing events, Rogers had qualifying measurements in the shot put and hammer throw. Rogers crushed his old school record of 24.76m in the hammer throw with a 34.89m mark at the Seahawk Invite. Rogers and junior Allen Kiefer (Raleigh, N.C.) had distances of 11.70m and 9.67m, respectively, in the shot put.

The Knights men’s track runners also competed in three shorter distance races. Freshman William Foronda (Chesapeake, Va.) paced a trio of Knights in the 800m run with a speed of 2:25.37. Junior Jon Lecker (Minneola, Fla.) followed in 2:27.32 and senior Patrick Hogan (Denton, N.C.) completed competition in 2:31.96. Six SAPC runners took off in the 1500m run and Walls was the first to finish in 4:27.04. Sophomore Josh Pickett (Asheville, N.C.) was next in 4:42.60; McKee followed in 4:45.20; Wilson crossed in 4:45.78; Lecker trailed in 4:49.04; and Foronda wrapped up in 4:59.03. Phillips raced in the 400m dash and took 54.57 seconds to complete the lap.