WHEELING, W.Va.)---The 2010 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Track & Field portion of the Championships will be held April 30-May 1 at Wheeling Jesuit.
The multi-event portion of the meet concluded last weekend as Seton Hill’s Erin Beattie won the 13-woman field and defended her crown in the heptathlon with a WVIAC record 4271 points. In addition the heptathlon, saw three individual event records fall over the two day competition.
Freshman Cuylor Edgell of WV Wesleyan held off teammate and defending champion Ricky Kump to win his first decathlon crown with a total of 6313 pts. Edgell set a new WVIAC meet record for the event along with hitting a NCAA Provisional mark. Ten men competed in the field with which saw three individual event records fall.
On the team side, WV Wesleyan leads the men's field with 19 pts followed by Seton Hill with 8 pts. and Wheeling Jesuit with 4 pts. Seton Hill’s women lead defending champions WV Wesleyan by 1 point (11 to 10) followed by Glenville with 8pts and Concord with 2pts.
WV Wesleyan looks to defend their men’s crown against last year’s runner-up Seton Hill. “The filed is wide open for the men this year and could come down to the 4x400m relay,” says veteran WVIAC meet director Chris Kreger. However, Seton Hill will walk in as the favorite this year led by their NCAA Division II national provisional qualifiers. Josh Wilks has an NCAA mark in the 800m with a time of 1:51.78 and comes off an All-American performance in the indoor championships as he also hit the indoor standard in the 400m this season. Griffins Nick Spino and Aron Kurzinski have also hit NCAA marks in the 400mH (53.63) and long jump (7.27m) respectively. Dwight Holden of WV Wesleyan is just seconds off and a NCAA mark in the 110HH along with his 4x400m relay team.
On the women’s side WV Wesleyan will seek their 18th women’s title and their 8th straight as they hope to hold off Seton Hill and Wheeling Jesuit. Seton Hill’s Erin Beattie (field events) will be one of the favorites to watch along with Wheeling Jesuit’s Sarah Campanelli (1500m), Emily Taylor (discus) and Megan Pratt (hammer), WV Wesleyan’s Megan Zayas (steeple), and Concord’s freshman sensation Shawnee Carnett (800m) who have each reached, or are not far off, NCAA qualifying marks. Glenville’s Marteney Jacobs and Concord’s Shawnee Carrnett look to be the favorites in this years Rookie of the year title as it will come down to their individual points in the meet to see who wins the crown.
Several athletes are in the running for this year’s Field Athlete of the Year, Track Athlete of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. Each athletes earns points based on the performance list, NCAA marks and points earned in the meet. Some of the top contenders for each award follow:
Men’s Rookie of the Year: Cuylor Edgell—WV Wesleyan, Dominic Camasso—Seton Hill, Nick Bonaventure—Wheeling Jesuit
Men’s Field Athlete of the Year: Aron Kurzinski—Seton Hill, Cuylor Edgell – WV Wesleyan, Ricky Kump—WV Wesleyan, Jordan Swigger—Glenville, Julio Villatoro—WV Wesleyan
Men’s Track Athlete of the Year: Josh Wilks—Seton Hill, Ricky Kump—WV Wesleyan, Dwight Holden—WV Wesleyan, Nick Spino—WV Wesleyan, Dustin Hall—Wheeling Jesuit, Kevoy Douglas—WV Wesleyan, Ahkeem Figgs—Glenville
Women’s Rookie of the Year: Shawnee Carnett—Concord, Calsie Boyd—Seton Hill, Marteney Jacobs—Glenville, Ashli Knotts—WV Wesleyan
Women’s Field Athlete of the Year: Erin Beattie—Seton Hill, Megan Pratt—Wheeling Jesuit, Emily Taylor—Wheeling Jesuit
Women’s Track Athlete of the Year: Shawnee Carnett—Concord, Megan Zayas—WV Wesleyan, Sarah Campanelli—Wheeling Jesuit, Valarie Jasper—WV Wesleyan, Jenna Brock—WV Wesleyan, Morgan Bennett—WV Wesleyan