RADFORD, Va. – Coastal Carolina’s women jumped out to a big lead and Liberty’s men paced the competition in the first day at the 2009 New Balance Big South Conference Track & Field Championships at Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium Thursday.

The women of Coastal Carolina pulled away to post 56 points with a dominant performance in field events, taking five podium finishes between the javelin, long jump and hammer throw.

Liberty’s men took a 15-point lead at 45, posting a pair of top finishes in field events.

On the javelin men’s side, the first competition of the championships, Liberty freshman Ryan Bell topped the field with a throw of 66.31 m (217’10”), setting a new Cupp Stadium and Liberty school record.  Jared Baird of Winthrop posted a second-place finish at 62.35m (204’7”) and Liberty’s Elliott Galeone took the third spot at 61.01m (200’2”)

Women’s javelin action has headed up by Deborah Mattern of Coastal Carolina, who won the event with a toss of 42.49m (139’5”).  Second place went to Sarah Wyszyski of Gardner-Webb at 37.71m (123’9”) and third to Catilin Lupo of Coastal Carolina at 37.31m (122’5”). 

The women’s hammer throw saw a freshman champion, as Radford’s Aimee Veatch led the way with a throw of 55.08m (180’8”), nearly 20 feet better than the field.  Coastal Carolina got two more podium finishes from Brittany Connor (second – 49.03m) and Zakiyyah Stewart (third – 48.86m).

In men’s hammer throw action, each of the top three finishers posted  NCAA Regional qualifying marks.  Christopher Hutschalik of Gardner-Webb posted the school’s first outdoor championship as a Big South member, with a distance of 58.70m (192’7”).  Mark Manno of Coastal Carolina hit a mark of 58.59m (192’3”) to finish second, while Radford’s Matt Dobson connected at 57.20m (187’8”) to place third.

Radford’s Shemelia Brandon wrapped her second straight Big South championship in the women’s long jump, hitting a distance of 5.71 (18’9”).  Coastal Carolina’s Arielle Miller also had a leap of 5.71m, but Brandon took the top spot based on her average jumps.  Patria Norman of Charleston Southern finished third at 5.54m (18’2”).

Liberty freshman Anthony Bryant posted his first title in the men’s long jump with a distance of 7.12 (23’4.5”).  Another frosh, Ademola Titcombe of VMI, finished second at 7.08m (23’2.75”).  Radford’s Bryan Wallace was third at 7.06m (23’2”).

The day of competition wrapped up with the men’s and women’s 10,000m run.  On the men’s side, High Point senior Jesse Cherry posted a Cupp Stadium record with a first place clocking of 30:41.82.  Josh Edmonds (second place) of Liberty and Trevor Beesley of Winthrop (third place) finished just behind Cherry at 30:54.11 and 30:55.72, respectively.

In the women’s 10,000 meter run, VMI’s Hannah Granger hit the facility mark in a championship performance, finishing at 36:56.02.  Dacia Bushman of Liberty crossed the line in second at 37:05.39, and Winthrop’s Carey Phillips placed third at 37:29.89.

Day two of the 2009 New Balance Big South Outdoor Track & Field Championships will start on Friday, April 17 at 11 a.m.