Track & Field prepares for A-sun

On the final day of the Tiger Paw Invitational, it was the ETSU track & field women who took a pair of top finishes.

Junior Chelsea Clark set a personal best and won the mile run, while sophomore Karissa Bertling took gold in the 200-meter dash.

Saturday, at Clemson’s Indoor Track & Field Complex, Clark out-hustled Charlotte’s Maraya Slatter and Central Florida’s Anne-Marie Blaney down the home stretch, crossing the line in 5 minutes, 32 seconds.

Slatter was on Clark’s heels at 5:00.58 and Blaney finished at 5:00.93. Clark’s time moves her into a No. 4 ranking in the Atlantic Sun conference standings. Bertling didn’t turn in her best 200-meter time, but it was good enough to take first. The sophomore also ran in the 400 meter, taking bronze.

“I felt this was the perfect tune up for the conference championships,” said, George Watts, director of ETSU Track & Field/Cross Country. “We had a bunch of personal bests and season bests, with some nice wins and a lot of consistency throughout the team.

“All of the event groups showed a lot of progress,” Watts said. “I was especially pleased with the sprinters, jumpers, and women’s distance and mid-distance runners, and I couldn’t feel happier about where we are leading up to our conference championships.”

On the men’s side, newcomer Rashad Campbell followed up his impressive Friday with a silver-medal finish in the 60-meter dash.

Campbell tied for the No. 1 qualifying spot at 6.90 seconds, but was edged in the finals by Charlotte’s Khyran Shank who won gold at 6.77 seconds — Campbell crossed in 6.86 seconds.

Also running in the event was freshman Anthony Goins, who took fourth with a time of 6.92 seconds after qualifying in a tie for eighth.

Senior Jason Johnson equaled Campbell’s top finish for the men, earning silver in the triple jump with a season-best distance of 14.90 meters. The women’s half of the event saw another ETSU senior, Kelly Monteleone, earn a top 10, leaping 11.88 meter to take sixth.

The ETSU men’s and women’s track & field teams will now look ahead to the Atlantic Sun Indoor Championships, which they will host Feb. 22-23, at the ETSU/MSHA Athletics Center.