Wildcat Mens Track & Field Matches School Best Finish at SoCon Championships
4/22/2007 11:10:29 AM | Men's Track & Field
Gavin McFarlin -- Assistant SID
Recap | Results
BOONE, N.C.— Sitting in seventh place after day one of the Southern Conference track and field Championships, the Davidson men's team, led by senior Douglas Noreen (Apex, N.C.), jumped up four spots to match the best finish in school history with a third place showing in the final day of the championships held on the campus of Appalachian State. The Wildcats scored a new school record 104 points, topping the previous best mark set last season by 20 points.
Taking home top team honors on the men's side was
Leading the way in day two was Noreen, who earned two first-place finishes, while capping off his last SoCon Championship by being named the Most Valuable Track Performer. He was joined by head coach Gary Andrew to give the Wildcats two postseason honors when Andrew was named the Co-Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Of the 21 events that were scored over the weekend, Davidson took first-place in four of them and earned another four second-place finishes on its way to a new school record in points scored at the championships. The Wildcats also scored in every event except two of the 21.
In addition, two new school records were set to push the Wildcats' total of new times being set this season in either outdoor or indoor track to nine.
Davidson also matched last year's total of runners who earned all-conference honors with nine again this year.
Noreen started his afternoon off by securing a first-place finish in the 800-meter with a time of 1:53.05, just .15 seconds better than Patrick Morgan of Furman, to pick up 10 team points. He owns the school record with a time of 1:52.26, which he set last year at the conference championships.
Following his 800-meter first place showing, Noreen then ran in the 1500-meter and picked up his second top time on the afternoon with a time of 3:59.52 for first place.
The other two first place showings were earned by senior David Ritchie (
Jones, who had only threw the javelin in a few meets leading up to the championships, earned a career-best throw of 181' 5" to score a first place finish and 10 team points for the Wildcats. The junior was only .88 meters from etching his name in the Wildcat record books in the event.
Noreen, Ritchie and Jones each qualified for the NCAA regionals, which will be held May 25-26, with their first place finishes.
Besides Jones' outstanding showing, the Wildcats' sophomore Will Funderburg (
Walter, who was the lone Wildcat to qualify for the regionals last year, also earned a second place finish when he picked up a throw of 150' even in the discus for eight team points.
Freshman Tom Divinnie (Brentwood, Tenn.) capped off his first conference championships with all-conference honors when he crossed the finish line second in the 5000-meter, scoring a time of 15:25.93 for eight team points. The day before, he finished fourth in the 10000-meter event.
The Wildcats other school record that was broken over the weekend was set by the 4x400-meter relay team of senior John Bialas (Auburn, Mass.) and Ritchie along with junior Brad Troxell (Fort Collins, Colo.) and sophomore JinHan Justin Song (Seoul, Korea), who finished second with a new best time of 3:15.98.
Davidson next heads to the Penn Relays in
Men's Awards for the SoCon Championships
Freshman of the Year: Dominique Young, Western Carolina
Most Valuable Track Performer: Douglas Noreen, Davidson
Most Valuable Field Performer: Anthony Greer, Appalachian State
Co-Coaches of the Year: Gary Andrew (Davidson) and Danny Williamson (WCU)
