Moss, Lemons earn All-America honors

Seniors James Lemons and Shantia Moss earned All-America honors last weekend when they participated in the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Lemons finished fifth in the men’s triple jump with a 54 feet, 1 ¼ inch mark. This is Lemons’ first outdoor honor, earlier this season Lemons earned indoor honors in the triple jump and long jump.

Moss ran in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing third with a time of 13.15 for her fourth All-America selection. Moss also earned the honor in the fall for 60-meter indoor hurdles. The women finished 43 with six points. The men finished 50 with a total of four points.

Tech took seven participants to the championships in Iowa, four men and three women.

For the women, junior Jacqua Williams’ best time in the 200 meters was 23.49. Junior Kimery Hern qualified with a mark of 197 feet, 11 inches in the hammer throw.

For the men, sophomore Steve Marcelle and junior Andy Powlen both participated in the shot put. Powlen qualified with a mark of 60 feet, 8.5 inches, while Marcelle had a mark of 61 feet, 6.75 inches. Sophomore Alphonso Jordan also qualified in the triple jump with a mark of 52 feet, 9.5 inches.

Moss started the qualifying for the Jackets. She finished with a time of 12.96 in qualifying, better than her championship mark, to finish second in qualifying. She is the second Tech athlete to run under 13 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles. Marcelle and Powlen also competed on the second day of qualifying. Marcelle registered a mark of 57 feet, 10.5 inches. He ranked 16 after qualifying preliminaries. Powlen did not register a mark in the qualifying.

Williams finished 19 in the preliminary 200 meter dash, three spots outside of qualifying for the final round.

Moss started the third day with another sub-13 time, finishing with 12.99, also second best on the day, to qualify for her first championship.

Lemons qualified for the finals with a mark of 51 feet, 11.75 inches. Jordan followed with a mark of 51 feet, 5.5 inches, missing the final round cut by just two spots.

“[Lemons] had a phenomenal day and just competed really well…Coach Page has done a great job with [Lemons] and I am just very proud of the both of them,” head coach Grover Hinsdale said.

Tech also won the ACC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Sportsmanship Award for the 2007-2008 campaign. Teams receiving this award are voted on by the players and coaches of the ACC. The men’s track and field team also won the award for the indoor season in the winter. Virginia Tech won the Sportsmanship School of the Year award. Virginia Tech also leads the conference with 19 awards since joining the ACC in 2004. The trophy was created by the conference’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee in order to recognize teams that promote the ACC’s mission statement, “It [the ACC] strongly adheres to the principles of integrity and sportsmanship, and supports the total development of the student-athlete and each member institution’s athletics department staff, with the intent of producing enlightened leadership for tomorrow.”

Among other winners, Duke won for men’s tennis and men’s lacrosse, Virginia won for women’s tennis as well as women’s golf. Boston College won the men’s golf award and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field. Clemson won for Rowing, while North Carolina took home the award for Baseball.

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