BOONE, N.C. - College of Charleston women's track & field rallied behind an injured teammate to collect a program-high 66 points for a sixth-place finish at the 2010 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Freshman Jelain McArthur (Laurens, S.C./Laurens District) was named the Women's Freshman of the Year after picking up 16 points for the Cougars in three events. The rookie set school records in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles and was named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team in all three events.
McArthur rallied after pulling a hamstring while running the anchor leg of the 4x100 meter relay to compete in the triple jump and the finals of the 100-meter hurdles. She finished the hurdles race in a blistering 14.03 seconds to place second, while setting a new school record in the process. She also leapt 39'3¼" on her fifth attempt in the triple jump to finish fourth.
Junior Mary Zolga (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham) also earned a second-place finish on the final day of competition, in the 400-meter hurdles. She crossed the finish line in 1:03.31, just two-hundredths of a second slower than her record-setting time in the preliminaries the day before.
Freshman Chelsea Taylor (Seneca, S.C./Seneca) also overcame an injury to perform well on Sunday. After missing the majority of the outdoor season, Taylor reached a height of 10'11¾" in the pole vault to tie for fourth place with Kassie McKie of Western Carolina. Her jump surpassed her old personal-best by almost an entire foot and ties for the 10th-best performance in school history.
"McArthur really inspired Taylor," head coach Amy Seago said. "It really changed the dynamic of the whole team and then the girls just stepped it up and got it done."
Freshman thrower Latisha Harris (Aynor, S.C./Aynor), who also plays basketball for College of Charleston, came in sixth in the shot put to pick up three points for her team. After training with the team for just three weeks and competing in her second meet, she launched the shot a distance of 40'9½". She is now second in school history behind Chakosa Lance, who competed in the NCAA Regionals for College of Charleston in 2006.
On the track sophomore Kristen Wolfe (Midlothian, Va./James River) led a group of four Cougars in the 1,500 meters, shaving 1 second off her previous season-best for a fith-place time of 4:42.47. The time is just a half-second slower than her school-record time set at the Southern Conference Championships last year.
Juniors Isabel Boersma (Franklin, Tenn./Ravenwood) and Brynne Johnson (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) finished third and fourth in the heptathlon to combine for 11 points for the Cougars. Both broke the previous school record with 4,466 and 4,365 points, respectively. Johnson had personal records in six of the seven events.
Western Carolina claimed the 2010 SoCon Championship with 221.5 points. Charleston's sixth-place finish ties for the best in school history while it's 66 points is 24 more than last year's seventh-place finish.
Women's Team Results
1 Western Carolina - 221.5 points
2. Appalachian State - 144 points
3. Elon - 123.5 points
4. Samford - 84 points
5. Georgia Southern - 83 points
6. College of Charleston - 66 points
7. Chattanooga - 27 points
8. The Citadel - 26 points
9. Furman - 21 points
10. Davidson - 19 points
11. UNC Greensboro - 3 points
12. Wofford - 1 point
Individual Awards
Most Outstanding Athlete - Felicia Paulding, Western Carolina
Most Outstanding Track Performer - Anneli Uys, Chattanooga
Most Outstanding Field Performer - Zakiyyah Stewart, Western Carolina
Freshman of the Year - Jelain McArthur, College of Charleston
Coach of the Year - Mark Elliston, Elon
All-Freshman Team (CofC Members)
Long Jump - Jelain McArthur
Shot Put - Latisha Harris
100-Meter Hurdles - Jelain McArthur
Pole Vault - Chelsea Taylor
Discus Throw - Casey McKee
Triple Jump - Jelain McArthur
