March 27, 2009

RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina track and field teams opened the outdoor season on Friday at a rain-soaked Raleigh Relays hosted by NC State. Four Tar Heels reached provisional marks, including the All-America hurdle duo of LaToya James (400-hurdles) and Vanneisha Ivy (100-hurdles). Competition will wrap up in Raleigh beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Ivy, fresh off an All-America performance in the 60-meter hurdles two weeks ago, reached a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles when she clocked a 13.32. Ivy's time was the second fastest in the preliminaries and the fourth-fastest time in school history. Fellow hurdler LaToya James turned in a third place showing in the 400-meter hurdles when she ran a 58.71 in her first action of the outdoor season.

Freshman Rebecca O'Brien also turned in a regional-qualifying performance in the shot put when she registered a top throw of 49-3. The Cumberland, Maine, native finished third in the event, while also leaving a mark on the school record book with the fifth-best throw in school history. O'Brien doubled up in the regional marks when she reached a mark in the discus with a throw of 157-1.

Sophomore All-America Patience Coleman cleared 5-8 3/4 in the high jump to reach a regional mark after sitting out the indoor season. Three Tar Heels earned top 10 finishes in the 400-meter dash when Tasha Stanley finished fourth (54.99), Shaunee Morgan (55.13) fifth and Callie Pottinger 10th (55.69).

On the men's side, Charles Cox opened the outdoor season with a fine performance in the 400-meter dash reaching a regional mark in 46.62. Cox became the third Tar Heel on the day to reach a top-five mark in school history with his time ranking fifth in school annals. The Tinton Falls, N.J., native finished less than a half second out of first place as he claimed a fourth place finish.

Zack Dawson also turned in a top five performance on Friday when he finished fifth in the second section of the 5000-meter run when he clocked a time of 14:40.78. The time set a new personal best for Dawson. In the seeded 5000, Evan Watchempino finished 20th overall in a time of 14:34.41.

The trio of Tyler Ford, Malai Walker and Cierra McGee all qualified for the 100-meter dash finals on the opening day of the Relays. Ford turned in the top time of the group with a 12.03, while Walker and McGee turned in identical 12.19 times.

Action resumes on Saturday in Raleigh at 10 a.m. in the second day of the Raleigh Relays.