Mark Holmes earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference honors with a second-place finish in the pole vault.

April 17, 2003

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Samford's men's track and field leads the Atlantic Sun Championships with 59 points after one day of competition. Pete Fox and Daniel Balena were each crowned a conference champion Thursday, and six Bulldogs earned all-conference honors. A full day of events is scheduled for Friday, when the men hope to sustain the lead and the women's team begins competing in earnest.

The afternoon started as well as the Bulldogs could have hoped, with a sweep of the hammer throw. Sophomore Pete Fox (43.07m) won the event, and his senior teammates Josh Caldwell (43.03m) and Keeton Blakeney (42.43m) finished second and third, respectively.

Red-shirt freshman Mark Holmes earned all-conference in the pole vault, clearing 14' and finishing second.

Sophomore Daniel Balena won the javelin with a mark of 58.66m.

Competition at the conference track & field meet takes on a new significance this year as the NCAA Championship format includes automatic qualification for the first time. This is the first year that regional competition will be conducted and each of the individual champions will automatically qualify for the NCAA Regional Meet. Conference champions Balena (javelin) and Fox (hammer throw) each qualified for the regionals, which will be May 30-31 in Columbus, Ohio.

In the 10,000 meters, Bryan Baddorf finished second behind Belmont's William Kemey. Baddorf finished with an all-conference time of 31:59.

Nathan Russell scored points for the Bulldogs Thursday, placing fourth in the long jump at the A-Suns.

Four other Bulldogs scored points with top-six individual finishes. Sophomore Nathan Russell finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 21'10". Sophomore Ricky McLain finished fifth in the 10,000 meters, clocking a 33:15. And sophomore Derek Simmons was fifth in the javelin with a mark of 46.70m. Senior James Drake rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs, picking up a point with a throw of 44.88m and sixth-place finish in the javelin.

Troy State is in second place with 45 points. Belmont is third with 23 points.

Although the majority of events still remain to be completed for the Bulldog women, freshman April Howell advanced to Friday's finals of the 100 meter hurdles by virtue of a preliminary heat time of 14.4 seconds.

Friday's competion begins at 1:45 p.m. Eastern, with the women's 100 meters final. The last event, the women's 4 x 400 meters, is scheduled to begin at 4:10 p.m. Eastern.

Friday's Events

women's 5,000 meters*

men's 5,000 meters*

women's pole vault

men's high jump*

women's shot put

men's discus*

men's triple jump

men's 110 meter hurdles

women's 100 meter hurdles*

men's 100 meters*

women's 100 meters final

men's 1,500 meters*

women's 1,500 meters*

men's 4 x 100 meters*

women's 4 x 100 meters*

women's high jump

men's shot put*

women's discus

men's 400 meters*

women's 400 meters*

men's 800 meters*

women's 800 meters*

women's triple jump*

men's 400 meter hurdles*

women's 400 meter hurdles

men's 200 meters*

womens's 200 meters*

men's 3,000 meter steeplechase*

men's 4 x 400 meters*

women's 4 x 400 meters*

*at least one Bulldog scheduled to compete