2015 Southern Conference Championship Day One Results 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Western Carolina University men's and women's track & field teams are both in good positions at the end of day one at the 2015 Southern Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala. Both squads are looking to claim their first outdoor championships since sweeping the 2013 titles. The women sit in first after day one with a 15 point advantage over second place Samford while the men trail second place ETSU by just nine points and first place Samford by 21 points.

The women qualified 20 competitors for Sunday finals in the six preliminary events on Saturday while second place Samford has just 11 competitors in those finals. On the men's side WCU qualified 18 competitors in the preliminaries while first place Samford and second place ETSU each have 11.

No individual champions were crowned on either the men's or women's team on Saturday but the men picked up three all-conference performances while the women had five.

The Catamount women picked up 23 of their 69 points in just one event as WCU swept the second through fifth place spots in the long jump. Junior Molly Fagan led the group with a second place showing as she set a new WCU season best with a distance of 5.79m (19-00.00). Sophomore Chenell Bryan was right on her heels at 5.73m (18-09.75) as she finished third. Senior Michaela Birek picked up the next spot at 5.71m (18-09.00) while sophomore Tiffani Lewis was just a half inch behind at 5.70m (18-08.50).

The men's best event was the javelin where the Catamounts earned 11 points. Redshirt junior Adam Parker earned all-conference honors by finishing third with a toss of 53.85m (176-08). Sophomore Dustin Triplett just missed out on the podium with a fourth place showing and a distance of 51.82m (170-00).

Senior Devyn Ressler earned all-conference in the women's pole vault as she finished second after clearing 3.63m (11-10.75) to help the Catamounts collect 15 points in the event. The other WCU scorers were senior Cara June Elyea and junior Korie Bennett. Both Catamounts cleared 3.48m (11-05.00) but Elyea claimed fifth after completing the height in fewer attempts while Bennett finished sixth.

Junior Jared Johnson and sophomore Scott Peretin teamed up to pick up 10 points for the men in the hammer throw. Johnson finished second in the event with a toss of 51.96m (170-06) while Peretin placed seventh at 46.96m (154-01).

A trio of Catamounts earned 14 points in the women's javelin. Senior Kim Cannon finished second with a season best toss of 41.39m (135-09). Senior Anne Greer came in fifth after stopping the tape at 37.80m (124-00) while Fagan finished seventh to bring her individual point total on the day to 10. Fagan's toss registered 33.89m (111-02).

Junior Michael Cornwell picked up eight valuable points for the Catamounts in the men's 3,000m steeplechase as he placed second with a time of 9:13.63.

The women registered their fourth 10-plus point event in the hammer throw as the Catamounts earned 13 points. Senior Alisha Bradshaw led the way with a second place showing with a distance of 50.41m (165-05). Junior Jasmin Brown came in sixth with a toss of 47.27m (155-01) while sophomore Hailey Cook placed seventh at 45.93m (150-08).

A trio of Catamounts combined for six points in the men's long jump. Junior Christian Carswell tied for fifth with a season best leap of 6.99m (22-11.25). Junior David Johnson took seventh after jumping just a quarter inch shorter than Carswell at 6.98m (22-11.00) while sophomore Tremaine Kernes finished tied for eighth with a jump of 6.77m (22-02.50).

The final women's scorer on opening day was junior Kaitlyn Shetler who earned four points in the women's 3,000m steeplechase with a season best time of 11:22.05 to earn fifth.

Freshman Corey Ginley and Triplett combined to score five points in the men's pole vault. Both men cleared 4.68m (15-04.25) but Ginley took sixth after clearing the height in fewer attempts. Triplett's two points in the pole vault brought his daily total to seven after picking up five in the javelin.

The championships will conclude tomorrow night. Fans can follow all the action through live results on SoConSports.com.

All-Southern Conference Performers (Women)
Alisha Bradshaw, hammer throw second
Chenell Bryan, long jump third
Kim Cannon, javelin second
Molly Fagan, long jump second
Devyn Ressler, pole vault second

All-Southern Conference Performers (Men)
Michael Cornwell, 3,000m steeplechase second
Jared Johnson, hammer throw second
Adam Parker, javelin third

Southern Conference All-Freshman Performers (Women)
Laney Browder, 10,000m
Erin West, javelin

Southern Conference All-Freshman Performers (Men)
Brenden Caldwell, long jump
Corey Ginley, pole vault