Feb. 20, 2003

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - For the second consecutive year, the University of North Carolina track and field team will be hosting the Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Dick Taylor Track in the Eddie Smith Fieldhouse this weekend.

Events begin Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. Admission to all sessions is free. Information about the championship including a full schedule of events is available on www.TarHeelBlue.com, the official site of the North Carolina athletics department.

Last winter in Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech won the women's championship, upsetting the then nine-time defending champion Tar Heels. In all, Carolina has won 13 of the 16 championships since they first began in 1987.

On the men's side last season, Clemson ran away with the championship with a 37-point victory over runner-up Florida State. Maryland leads all schools with 26 indoor championships, but has not won since 1980. Clemson is the six-time defending champion and has won 11 of the last 14.

The North Carolina track and field teams are led by 19th-year head coach Dennis Craddock, whose women's teams have won 13 indoor ACC championships and whose men's teams have won two ACC indoor titles.

North Carolina Men's Preview

The UNC men's team is looking to rebound from the worst finish in school history last season in fifth. Carolina has finished in the top three at the indoor championships 39 of the 43 years the men's competition has been in existence.

This season the Tar Heels will be led by a pair of senior jumpers as well as a pair of junior transfers. Seniors Adam Shunk and Blair Woodward are returning All-ACC Indoor performers, and are among the favorites in the high jump and long jump, respectively.

Shunk, a two-time ACC Performer of the Week this season, is the defending champion with a mark of 7-3 in the high jump. This season he was the conference's top performer in that event with a mark of 7-3 as well. Woodward looks to defend his title in the long jump, and is seeded second in the conference in that event at 24-5 - just 1/4 of an inch off the top mark.

Junior transfers Andrew Craycraft and Daniel Harris have both posted an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in their events. Craycraft posted the top time in the 800-meter in conference this season at 1:49.92, while Harris is second behind Florida State's Rafeeq Curry in the triple jump.

In the sprints and hurdles, freshman Curtis Fraser is the eighth-best performer in the ACC in the 60-meter this season, while fellow freshman Ryan Therrien is sixth in the 400-meter dash. In the 60-meter hurdles, sophomores Kevin Watson and Rob Bates hold the second and third best times in the ACC this season, respectively.

In the middle distance, Craycraft in addition to sophomore Doug Smith will be among the contenders in the 800-meter run. Smith is currently seeded fourth in that event.

The jumps are the men's team's deepest area, with Shunk, Harris and Woodward all in contention for the ACC title in their respective events. Going into the championship, Woodward is also seeded third in the triple jump and sophomore John Hubbard is right behind Shunk in the high jump with a best of 7-1 this season.

In the throws, sophomore Vikas Gowda is the Tar Heels' top performer, third in the ACC with a mark of 57-5 1/2 in the shot put.

North Carolina Women's Preview

Ten All-ACC performers, four ACC Champions, the ACC Rookie of the Year and last year's ACC Indoor Most Valuable Performer all return for the Carolina women's track and field team for this year's championship.

Junior Shalane Flanagan, the only active member of the ACC 50th Anniversary Team for Indoor Track, will attempt to repeat her performance as the meet's most valuable performer with wins in the mile, 3,000-meter and as the anchor of Carolina's distance medley relay.

Junior Alice Schmidt, who was also a member of last season's champion distance medley relay team, will be defending her individual championship in the 800-meter. She has the top time in the ACC this season in that event with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:05.75.

Freshman Laura Gerraughty, who competed outdoors last year but not indoors, will be making her debut in the ACC Indoor Championship as the favorite to win both the shot put and the weight throw. Going into the weekend's events, Gerraughty holds more than a seven-foot advantage in the shot put and more than a four-foot margin ahead of the next-best ACC competitor. She has been named ACC Performer of the Week three times this season.

Last year's ACC Indoor's top newcomer, sophomore Erin Donohue, returns to the indoor meet with the second-best time in the conference in the mile and the seventh best mark in the 800-meter.

In the sprints and hurdles, junior Anissa Gainey holds the top time in the ACC this season in the 200-meter dash at 24.19, and she is also seeded seventh in the 60-meter dash. Leading the Carolina hurdles will be sophomore Lindsay Bond, who has the fifth best time in the ACC this season at 8.62.

In the 400-meter, senior Kameese Wright and junior Tiffany Flomo are each seeded in the Top 8, with Flomo second and Wright sixth. Both are slated to join Gainey on the Tar Heels top 400-meter relay team, which has the best mark in the conference by more than seven seconds.

Several other Tar Heels enter the meet in contention to place. Sophomore Tatyana Kirichenko is ranked second in the high jump and fifth in the pole vault. Senior Shannon Burns has the third-best ACC mark in the triple jump, and senior Ibiene Bilaye-Benibo, a returning All-ACC performer, is a Top 8 performer in both the shot put and weight throw.