ROCK HILL, SC--Nearly 500 athletes will converge at Winthrop's Belk Track Complex beginning Thursday for the 2014 Big South Conference Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Liberty is the defending men's and women's champion. The Flames' men have dominated the outdoor championships by capturing 18 of the 20 previous meets and the last seven.titles The only two times that Liberty did not win the title was in 2003 and 2006 when Coastal Carolina took home the trophy. The Liberty women will be seeking their third title in the past five years as they are expected to battle Coastal Carolina once again for the crown. Liberty's women won the first 10 championships before Coastal broke the streak and captured three in a row and seven of the last 10.
The action gets underway on Thursday at 2 p.m. with the men's hammer throw. The first day, which consists primarily of the men's and women's hammer and long jump finals along with the several of the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon events, will conclude at 7 p.m. with the women's 10,000 meters followed at 8 p.m. by the men's 10K. The championship jumps into full gear on Friday at 10 a.m. and continues through the final events of the day with the women's and men's 3000 meter steeplechase that get underway at 8:15.
The final day of events will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday and will conclude with the team championship awards ceremony at 5 p.m.
Winthrop freshman hammer throw athlete Marthaline Cooper, senior sprinter and hurdler Sharrone Honor and 10,000 meter runner Jeanne Stroud are expected to give the Eagle women a good chance at winning their events, while on the men's side, sophomore distance runner
Colby Coulter will compete for top spots.
Stroud, will also be looking to be voted the Big South Conference Outdoor Scholar-Athlete of the Year for a second straight season. She swept all three scholar-athlete awards last year (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track) to become the first athlete in Big South history to do so, and she is now seeking to accomplish that feat once again after earning the 2013 Women's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year and the 2014 Indoor Track and Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.
The meet is free and open to the public.
