Complete Results in PDF

AKRON, Ohio - The University of South Florida men's track and field team started its 2009-10 season off with a bang at the Akron Quad Friday evening, as the Bulls posted 16 BIG EAST qualifying performances at the Stile Athletics Field House on the campus of the University of Akron.

Cincinnati, Bucknell and the host Zips rounded out the field along with USF. The women finished third with 111.5 points, while the men also finished third with 56 points.

The meet marked the first competition for the men's track team. The women's team, after posting eight BIG EAST Indoor Championships qualifying times in the first meet of the season at the Oiler Invitational, added another four performances to the championships in late February, including two by freshman Monique Williams.

Rookie Lindsey Lamar, fresh off his first season with the USF football team, made a splash in his first collegiate meet, taking first in the 60-meter dash by running a time of 6.77, the seventh-fastest time in the nation heading into the weekend. He not only surpassed the BIG EAST qualifying mark and posted the best time of the young season by a conference athlete, but only one BIG EAST athlete last season had a better time than Lamar's 6.77. He fell just short of the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 6.71.

Not to be outdone, seniors Greg Fontus and Armante Marshall also finished under seven seconds with times of 6.93 and 6.96, earning them trips to the BIG EAST Championships as well.

It didn't take freshman Neamen Wise to make a name for himself, as the former junior decathlon champion easily surpassed the BIG EAST qualifying standard in the long jump, launching himself 23-4.5 to take second behind Akron's Tyshaun Peoples, who beat out Wise by just .25 inches. A distance of 21-11.75 or better is required to earn a spot at the BIG EAST Indoors.

Wise wasn't done, though, as he also beat the BIG EAST time in the 60-meter hurdles along with sophomore David Aristil. Wise took fourth at Akron with a time of 8.29, just .10 off his indoor personal best, while Aristil finished second in 8.04, just behind Peoples, who won the event in 8.01.

Junior Stephanie Duffy continued her solid start to the season, equaling her previous indoor best of 12-7.5 - the second-best mark in USF history - to come in fourth in the pole vault.

A pair of freshmen finished strong in the 60-meter dash, as rookies Dariel Jackson and Williams went 3-4 in the finals. Jackson came in just under the BIG EAST qualifying standard - a mark she hit in USF's first meet of the season - by running a 7.84 Friday. Williams, who joined the track program just this week with the start of spring classes, posted a time of 7.89, falling .04 second short of the BIG EAST mark. Jackson also took third in the 200 meters with a time of 25.58.

Williams continued her great collegiate start as she just edged her way into the BIG EAST Indoor meet in the long jump, leaping 18-5.75 to surpass the mark by less than an inch. Williams added her second qualifying time of the meet in the triple jump as well, finishing third with a leap of 37-11.5, a mark that also landed her in eighth on the all-time top 10 list.

After qualifying for the BIG EAST meet in the triple jump at the Oiler Invite, senior Samantha Shade bested that mark by more than a foot by taking second in 38-7.75. Junior MaShonda Rayner and freshman Tralanda Todd finished fourth and fifth, respectively, behind Williams.

Sophomore Allie Prendergast came in under the 10-minute mark to qualify in the 3,000 meters, as she earned a first-place finish with a time of 9:57.87, eclipsing her previous best - indoor or outdoor - by more than 15 seconds.

Fontus eclipsed both the BIG EAST standard time and his personal best in the 200, finishing in second with a 21.83, breaking his previous career low of 22.12 and surpassing the conference time of 22.69. Both sophomore Reshaw Exilien and senior Josh Wimbley also beat that BIG EAST time.

The Bulls will be well represented in the pole vault at the championships, as four athletes on the men's side qualified for the meet following their performances at Akron. Seniors Sean Young and Grant Scelzi both cleared 15-7, while a pair of rookies in Mike Vani and Wyatt Metzger also qualified, as Vani posted a mark of 15-1 while Metzger vaulted 14-7.25.

Sophomore Shaniel Chambers punched her ticket to the BIG EAST Championships in the 500 meters, coming in first with a time of 1:15.25, two seconds under the BIG EAST qualifying time. Freshman Rachel James took third in the 500, as she completed the race in 1:19.11.

Aristil and Exilien passed the BIG EAST qualifying time in the 400 meters, with Exilien running a 48.90 - almost a full second better than his previous indoor best - as he took fourth, while Aristil finished right behind him with a time of 49.40.

Senior Mikail Ebanks did the same in the 500, posting a BIG EAST time of 1:05.02, a little more than half a second faster than the required conference time. Ebanks teamed with Aristil, Fontus and Wimbley to take second in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:17.59.

Sophomore Jared Thomas earned USF's last qualifying mark on the men's side, throwing a distance of 52-7.25 in the weight throw to come in second.

Sophomores Lauren Noe and Atasha Warren finished second and fourth, respectively, in the weight throw, as Noe used a heave of 56-7.25 to finish behind Akron's Valerie Wert. Warren, meanwhile, threw 52-2, just short of her all-time best. 

Senior Yvana Hepburn, after taking the Oiler Invitational title in the 60-meter hurdles in USF's first meet of the year, grabbed second in Akron, running an 8.73, a mere .03 seconds behind the first-place winner.

Freshman Rebecca James cracked the 1-minute mark in the 400 meters, coming in fourth with a time of 59.95. Another rookie, high jumper Courtney Anderson, finished in a tie for second by clearing 5-4.25.

Sophomore Yasmin Smith competed in the mile, and helped the Bulls score points by finishing third in her first meet of the season with a time of 5:12.27. Senior Ryan Courtoy ran the mile on the men's side, finishing in 4:20.57.

The Bulls return to action next week as USF heads up to the Twin Cities to take part in the Minnesota Invitational Jan. 23 at the University of Minnesota.