Mercer in Seventh After Day One at SoCon Championships

Thursday, May 11

Birmingham, Ala.

ALL DAY

Mercer University

SoCon Championships

Mercer in Seventh After Day One at SoCon Championships

5/11/2017 11:49:00 PM | Track & Field

Day 1 Results

Two school records fall, four Bears earn All-Conference nods

By: Gerrit Van Genderen

CORRECTION: Ciarra Edwards' javelin throw distance of 39.94 meters was previously listed as a Mercer program record. The record belongs to Krista Kennedy (40.80m), set in 2015.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Four Mercer women earned All-Southern Conference honors while one program record was shattered Thursday at the SoCon Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Samford Track and Soccer Stadium.

Mercer will enter the second and final day of the conference championships in sole possession of seventh place with 17 points. Pending inclement weather moved all field events to Thursday.

Callie Hammerle broke a school record in the 100-meter dash with a 12.50-second finish, despite placing 13th. A second-place finish of 39.94 meters in the javelin throw by Ciarra Edwards earned her all-conference accolades.

Mercer's distance runners led the way however, as Kimmie Whiting, Victoria Rogers and Anna Grzeszczak earned all-conference nods for their respective efforts in the 10,000-meter finals and 3,000-meter steeplechase finals. Whiting (38:56.78) and Rogers (39:42.26) finished fourth and sixth in the 10,000-meter while Whiting set a personal record. Grzeszczak placed eighth in the steeplechase with a personal-best time of 11:32.90.

McKaylin Darsey ran the 1,500-meter preliminaries in 4:52.23 to qualify for Friday's finals event. Myranda Ham also qualified for the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with a 1:05.92 finish in Thursday's preliminary heats.

Host Samford leads the women's team standings with 152 points, followed by Western Carolina (107), Furman (43), VMI (27), The Citadel (21) and ETSU (18). The Bears currently rank ahead of UNCG (4) and remain in striking distance of fourth place.

Athlete of the Meet
Top-five finishes by Whiting and Edwards were highlights to Mercer's day in Birmingham. Whiting's PR in the 10,000-meter placed her behind a trio of Furman runners, all of which were fellow freshmen. Edwards, who continues to impress despite joining the team mid-spring, came 0.86 meters away from tying Mercer's school record in the javelin throw.

Up Next
Inclement weather is expected Friday, forcing SoCon officials to move all running events up three and a half hours, starting with the women's 4x100-meter relay at 10:30 a.m. ET. Mercer will compete in five events Friday: 4x400-meter relay, 4x400-meter relay, 5,000-meter run, 1,500-meter finals (Darsey) and 400-meter hurdles finals (Ham).

Follow The Bears
For complete coverage of Mercer Track & Field, follow the team at @MercerXCTF (Twitter), /mercerbearsxctf (Facebook) and visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

Results
10,000 Meter Run (Finals)
4. Kimmie Whiting (38.56.78) (Personal Record) (All-Conference)
6. Victoria Rogers (39:42.26) (All-Conference)

1,500 Meter Run (Preliminaries)
9. McKaylin Darsey (4:52.23) (Qualified for finals)
16. Shannon Millikin (5:08.37)
17. Courtney Czerniak (5:11.60)

100 Meter Hurdles (Preliminaries)
13. Myranda Ham (15.40) (School Record)

400 Meter Dash (Preliminaries)
11. Madison Mueller (59.28)
15. Alicia Williams (1:02.00)

100 Meter Dash (Preliminaries)
13. Callie Hammerle (12.50) (School Record) (Personal Record)

800 Meter Run (Preliminaries)
19. Katie-Rose Alligood (2:35.94)
20. McKaylin Darsey (2:38.27)

400 Meter Hurdles (Preliminaries)
8. Myranda Ham (1:05.92) (Qualified for finals)

200 Meter Dash (Preliminaries)
11. Madison Mueller (24.99) (Personal Record)
13. Callie Hammerle (25.81)
16. Nicola Tirpak (26.91)
18. Alicia Williams (27.91)

3,000 Meter Steeplechase (Finals)
8. Anna Grzeszczak (11:32.90) (Personal Record) (All-Conference)
13. Bethanie Bailey (13:21.95)

Javelin Throw (Finals)
2. Ciarra Edwards (39.94m) (Personal Record) (All-Conference)
10. Myranda Ham (28.41m)
15. Callie Hammerle (25.42m)

Discus Throw (Finals)
15. Ciarra Edwards (31.37m)
17. Meg Hicks (20.44m)

Shot Put (Finals)
13. Ciarra Edwards (10.50m)
14. Meg Hicks (9.40m)