Old Gold and Black > 4.4.02 > Track and Field dominates both coasts

By Margaret McKenzie
Old Gold and Black Reporter

It was a busy weekend of competition for the men's track and field team. The Demon Deacons split into two venues with the majority of the team competing in the Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State and several Deacons traveling cross-country to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational. The Deacs enjoyed success on both coasts as several runners finished in the top 20 at both meets, proving that the split squad did not seem too hurt the Deacons at either meet. Despite being thousands of miles apart the split team was able to support each other.

"It's kind of odd having a split team, although not infrequent. The coaches do a good job in finding meets that will benefit all of the individuals," junior Paul Singleton said. "We would like to be there to cheer each other on, but our coaches do a pretty good job keeping up with the other half of the team via cell phone. So, even though we are not necessarily there, we know almost immediately how the rest of the team is doing."

In Raleigh, senior John Stone and junior Ryan Hamilton set season-best times of 10.64 in the 100-meter run and 47.76 in the 400-meter run. Both finished in the top 20. Freshman Brian Smith and junior Philip Wiles rounded out the top 20 finishers on the track in Raleigh. Smith finished the 5,000-meter with a time of 14:44.50. Wiles edged out the competition in the 10,000-meter with a time of 31:13.77.

The Deacons continued their successful ways on the field. Clearing 6'7" in the high jump garnered junior Fabian Davis a tie for 16th place. Davis also finished eighth in the triple jump, jumping 46'10.75". Sophomore Luke Orman tied for 20th in the long jump, clearing the mark of 22'0.25". Senior Cliff Neal was the top finisher for the Deacs on the field. A mark of 194'8" was enough to earn Neal a third-place finish in Raleigh.

The Stanford Invitational provided the highly touted Deacons a chance to compete with the top schools from across the nation.

"Competing against other schools that are so far away helps you see where you stand nationally," Singleton said.

The Deacs arrived on the West Coast and proved that they belonged among the best.

In California, sophomore Nathan Sisco broke a school record that had stood for 10 years.

Sisco's time of 3:43.37 in the 1,500 meters placed him sixth and also was an NCAA provisional qualifying time. Senior Chris Estwanik also broke a provisional qualifying time in the 1,500 meters, finishing in 3:43.63 to earn him a ninth-place finish.

Junior Michael Altieri finished 19th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 3:47.33 and Singleton finished 23rd in the top section of the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.38.

The Demon Deacons will return as a united team April 6-7, when they will compete in the Duke Invitational in Durham.

That meet will be the Demon Deacons' penultimate one before they go to the ACC Championships April 19-20 in Charlottesville, Va.


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