NCAA East Region Recap

With the bar set pretty high after Friday's performances, there was somewhat of an emotional letdown in the finals today. The women's 4x100m relay and Dionne Gibson in the 200m dash each carded a seventh-place finish, while Levi Brooks finished eighth in the 400m dash.

That said, the performances were still outstanding and I know I speak on behalf of the entire department that we are extremely proud of these athletes and the way they went out and represented CSU.

The season is still not over, though. Even though we did not get any automatic bids to the NCAA National Championships, there is a pretty good chance that our relay team will get an at-large bid, which will again pave new paths in the Big South. As we are driving back from Greensboro, Coach Langford and Levi are also looking at the 400m standings and there is an outside chance of him getting an at-large bid in the 400m dash, so keep your fingers crossed for both.

If you didn't catch the articles on CSUsports.com, the future of the program is bright as three freshmen have qualified, and will compete, at the USA Junior Nationals in Eugene, Ore.

I'll try to post some more pictures later, but the camera got packed in the back so I can't right now ... Thanks for following us on the blog this weekend. I know I'm not quite as exciting to read as the athletes, but the set up wasn't what I expected, and i didn't want to distract them too much.

If this is something that you have enjoyed and would like to see more of, or if you have other ideas for the blog, please let us know.

NCAA East Region - Day 2

As you can see, it wasn't all business as Coach Goode took time to show off her best modeling poses. I think this was still part of the celebration over the showing by the 4x1 relay team.

Now that I have a second, I do want to put out my plea on behalf of the track programs. If you are a CSU fan, you need to try to make it out to a meet like this. Even if you can't make it to regionals, go to one of the bigger meets that we are in. There is a real sense of pride when you see our athletes going against some of the best athletes in the country, and WINNING! The relay is a great example of that, when you see them rounding the turn, leading everyone and hear "Charleston Southern in the lead" over the PA. To further the point, the women's relay beat Virginia Tech, Florida and Penn State, among others. Tomorrow they will go toe-to-toe with Florida State, South Carolina, Miami, North Carolina, Jacksonville, UCONN and Charlotte.

It is easy to get complacent when you see CSU continually dominating the sprint events (men and women) in the conference, but when you see what they are doing on a national level, it really is impressive. We are really lucky to have the coaches we do representing CSU.

As for the guys, they are obviously upset that they finished ninth in the relay, but it was a good experience for the freshmen (Javon Young and Anthony Ward), and hopefully will fuel their fire for next year.

Alright - we just had our fourth (or maybe fifth or sixth) meal of the day, and I think today took the energy out of everyone. I'll write more tomorrow, hopefully bragging about a trio of CSU victories!


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Wow - Forgive me for not getting up more updates, but I've really enjoyed being outside, and the events have been fast and furious so far. I finally got a break before our final event of the day (the 200m dash) so I will post some now, and add to it once we get back to the hotel.

The meet couldn't have started any better for us as the women's team clocked in the fifth-best overall team, easily making the finals. It was exciting down to the wire as CSU and Miami were neck-and-neck coming off the final turn. Their time SHATTERED the Big South record, and helped them in their quest to become the first Big South relay team to ever qualify for nationals.

The men's team ran well, clocking in a season-best time as well, but it was heartache as they finished ninth, missing the finals by one measly spot. We momentarily thought a DQ had gotten rid of a team, putting us in, but it was not to be. Thankfully, all four guys will be back next year as a team of freshmen, a sophomore and a junior proved that they belong among the nation's elite.

Levi Brooks got into the finals in the 400m dash, claiming the eighth spot, forcing us to once again count teams and sweat out the results. He is in, though so we will cheer him on tomorrow in at least one event.

Still to come: Dionne Gibson and Gabrielle Houston in the 200m dash on the women's side, and Brooks in the 200m on the men's side.

Pictures to come later too, but here is a taste of what I was able to get.

NCAA East Region - Day 1

Had a good trip up from Charleston. We got arrived a little late because the guys had to change vans in Columbia. When we got on the interstate, the van started shaking and rattling. We thought it was Coach Langford's driving, but the girls were in the van behind us and could see our rear wheel shaking, so we opted for a new one.

Finally got to the track about 2:30 and had about 30 minutes to run through some relay exchanges. Tim and Tosha dropped everyone at the hotel and are now at their head coaches' meeting. Dinner tonight, a good night's rest for the teams and they are ready to compete tomorrow.

As for me, I'll be cheering them on, hopefully getting some good pictures. I will also continue to blog and twitter updates.

Here are some pics from the track: