In an effort to reward meets that keep score, every week I highlight the meets among multiple D-I teams that did so.
News
Earlier this week it was announced that next year, Oregon and Arkansas will go head-to-head in a creative way:
UO coach Vin Lananna said Wednesday that the Arkansas men’s team would attend the Oregon Relays next year and go head-to-head with the Ducks in a unique meet-within-a-meet format.“This will provide people in the state of Oregon with an opportunity to see a full-blown, scored, all-out, dual meet,” Lananna said.
The Oregon-Arkansas dual will be a tight, 1½-hour affair in the midst of the sprawling, two-day Oregon Relays, which include high school, college and professional athletes competing in many heats and sections,
“I think it will be a pretty cool set-up for the fans, the high school athletes and the UO and Arkansas athletes,” Lananna said.
Even more encouraging are the remarks from Arkansas head coach Chris Bucknam:
“This is the direction track and field should be going,” coach Chris Bucknam said. “At Arkansas, we are involved in a three-year plan to transform our schedule to include more scored meets that are athlete, coach, fan and media friendly. In regards to this meet, Vin (Lananna) has come up with a creative way to make this meet happen. Our fans, team, staff and administration are excited about going to Hayward Field for a scored meet with one objective: to win the meet.”
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Conference Championships
Atlantic Coast Conference
Thursday through Saturday at Lanigan Track, Charlottesville VA
The ACC holds its conference championships early, which I don’t think is in the best interests of the teams involved (requires a two-peak outdoor season) or fans of college track (inhibits their ability to compete against other teams or to give the Penn Relays a full go). Nevertheless, the men’s side of the meet was fantastic, a battle that was decided only in the final three events and was still in play going into the concluding 4×400. Virginia Tech ended up winning its first-ever outdoor ACC Championship and ended Florida State’s seven-year streak. On the women’s side, Clemson won in dominating fashion, posting the largest margin of victory in the last 18 years.
| Men | Women |
| 1 Virginia Tech, 153.5 | 1 Clemson, 185 |
| 2 Florida State, 149 | 2 Virginia, 100 |
| 3 Virginia, 113 | 3 Florida State, 75 |
| 4 North Carolina, 94.5 | 4 Duke, 74 |
| 5 Clemson, 78 | 4 Virginia Tech, 74 |
| 6 Duke, 59 | 6 North Carolina, 69 |
| 7 NC State, 58 | 7 Miami (Fla.), 61 |
| 8 Maryland, 31 | 8 NC State, 58 |
| 9 Wake Forest, 28 | 9 Maryland, 49 |
| 10 Georgia Tech, 26 | 10 Georgia Tech, 32 |
| 11 Miami (Fla.), 22 | 11 Boston College, 26 |
| 12 Boston College, 4 | 12 Wake Forest, 14 |
Results | TheACC.com story
Big South Conference
Thursday through Sunday at Doug Shaw Stadium, Conway SC
Liberty won its sixth straight men’s title, nearly doubling the score of runner-up Coastal Carolina. The same two teams were first and second in the women’s competition but reversed, as the Chanticleers successfully defended their 2011 championship in a close, see-saw battle.
| Men | Women |
| 1 Liberty, 213 | 1 Coastal Carolina, 234 |
| 2 Coastal Carolina, 135 | 2 Liberty, 214.5 |
| 3 High Point, 98 | 3 Charleston Southern, 84 |
| 4 Charleston Southern, 78 | 4 Gardner-Webb, 66 |
| 4 VMI, 78 | 5 Campbell, 48 |
| 6 Radford, 57 | 6 Winthrop, 42 |
| 7 Winthrop, 55 | 7 UNC Asheville, 41 |
| 8 Gardner-Webb, 50 | 8 High Point, 38 |
| 9 Campbell, 31 | 9 VMI, 27 |
| 10 UNC Asheville, 20 | 10 Radford, 22.5 |
Results | BigSouthSports.com story
Atlantic Sun Conference
Friday and Saturday at Hodges Stadium, Jacksonville FL
The ACC Championships might have come down to the final few events, but this meet came down to the final few meters. Going into the men’s 4×400, East Tennessee State held a lead of just half a point over Kennesaw State, meaning that the highest-finishing team would win the championship. The Buccaneers prevailed by a scant 0.41 seconds and ended Kennesaw State’s two-year win streak; these two teams have split the last six championships.
While the men’s competition was the closest in meet history, the women’s was a bit less close. Jacksonville dominated and won their seventh consecutive title, a meet record.
| Men | Women |
| 1 East Tennessee State, 223 | 1 Jacksonville, 242 |
| 2 Kennesaw State, 220.5 | 2 Kennesaw State, 151 |
| 3 Lipscomb, 115.5 | 3 North Florida, 148 |
| 4 USC Upstate, 106 | 4 East Tennessee State, 109 |
| 5 North Florida, 80 | 5 Lipscomb, 98 |
| 6 Belmont, 60 | 6 USC Upstate, 38.5 |
| 7 Belmont, 27.5 |
Southern Conference
Saturday and Sunday at Cullowhee, NC
| Men | Women |
| 1 Appalachian State, 238 | 1 Appalachian State, 207.5 |
| 2 Western Carolina, 225 | 2 Western Carolina, 149 |
| 3 Samford, 107 | 3 Samford, 113 |
| 4 Citadel, 79 | 4 Georgia Southern, 104 |
| 5 Davidson, 58 | 5 Elon, 102 |
| 6 Chattanooga, 37 | 6 College Of Charleston, 62 |
| 7 Furman, 31 | 7 UNCG, 37 |
| 8 UNCG, 30 | 8 Furman, 16 |
| 9 Wofford, 11 | 9 Citadel, 14.5 |
| 10 Chattanooga, 10 | |
| 11 Wofford, 4 |
Invitationals
All-Ohio Championships
Friday and Saturday at Rider Track, Oxford OH
This is a traditional meet whose history goes back a long, long way. It has declined in importance and no longer brings in every team in the state, but it’s still a pretty cool event. There’s a D-III version as well.
Ohio State won the men’s crown, even while sending a few stars out to the Mt. SAC Relays. Cincinnati defended its 2011 women’s title.
| Men | Women |
| 1 Ohio State, 160.83 | 1 Cincinnati, 191 |
| 2 Akron, 148.33 | 2 Miami (Ohio), 151.5 |
| 3 Miami (Ohio), 113.33 | 3 Akron, 79.5 |
| 4 Ashland, 88 | 4 Dayton, 69 |
| 5 Findlay, 84 | 5 Ohio State, 58.5 |
| 6 Cincinnati, 74 | 6 Ohio, 52 |
| 7 Kent State, 40 | 7 Xavier, 48 |
| 8 Dayton, 25 | 8 Ashland, 42.5 |
| 8 Lake Erie, 25 | 9 Wright State, 37 |
| 10 Xavier, 24.5 | 10 Kent State, 27.5 |
| 11 Ohio, 20 | 11 Bowling Green, 21 |
| 12 Tiffin, 12 | 12 Findlay, 17.5 |
| 13 Wright State, 1 | 13 Tiffin, 15 |
| 14 Lake Erie, 8 | |
| 15 Shawnee State, 1 |
Gateway Classic
Saturday at Korte Stadium, Edwardsville IL
I don’t think I’m being obsessive about scoring when I point out that SIUE’s writeup about the meet didn’t mention actually winning the thing until the 15th paragraph.
| Men | Women |
| 1 SIU Edwardsville, 217 | 1 SIU Edwardsville, 239 |
| 2 Western Illinois, 193 | 2 Western Illinois, 173 |
| 3 Bradley, 60 | 3 Bradley, 64 |
| 4 Missouri Baptist, 38 | 4 Missouri Baptist, 32 |
| 5 UT Martin, 21 | 5 UT Martin, 22 |
Bucknell Team Challenge
Saturday at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium, Lewisburg PA
Bucknell had no trouble sweeping the meet, as Penn State split its squads this weekend.
| Men | Women |
| 1 Bucknell, 292.5 | 1 Bucknell, 197.5 |
| 2 Penn State, 104 | 2 Duquesne, 121 |
| 3 Duquesne, 50 | 3 Penn State, 107 |
| 3 Lock Haven, 50 | 4 Towson, 68.5 |
| 5 Saint Francis (Pa.), 42.5 | 5 Saint Francis (Pa.), 63 |
| 6 Bloomsburg, 33 | 6 Mount St. Mary’s, 22 |
| 7 Mount St. Mary’s, 29 | 7 Bloomsburg, 21 |
| 8 Lock Haven, 18 |
Results | BucknellBison.com story
Holy Cross Team Invitational
Saturday at Hart Track, Worcester MA
Holy Cross’ women walked away victorious from the Crusaders’ first home meet of the year.
| Men | Women |
| 1 Maine, 206 | 1 Holy Cross, 224 |
| 2 Holy Cross, 139 | 2 UMass, 138 |
| 3 Stonehill, 128.5 | 3 Hartford, 127 |
| 4 Central Connecticut State, 87 | 4 Maine, 117.5 |
| 5 Bryant, 73.5 | 5 Stonehill, 54.5 |
| 6 Hartford, 66 | 6 Central Connecticut State, 36 |
| 7 Mount St. Mary’s, 29 | 7 Bryant, 21 |
Meets that should have been scored, but weren’t
Birmingham (UK) & Binghamton at Cornell
Friday at Robert J. Kane Sports Complex, Ithaca NY
Canadian university teams coming to US collegiate meets is a common occurrence, but UK teams coming to compete is less so. Birmingham tours the USA once every four years, having already been to Harvard, Penn and Yale. Cornell goes to England in a similar four-year cycle, next doing so in 2014. This was a hastily organized affair, as originally it was to be at Buffalo but rescheduled to Cornell (and Buffalo withdrew).
Applying a simple 5-3-2-1 scoring system (5-3 in relays), we get the following.
Men: Cornell 117, Binghamton 48, Birmingham (UK) 34
Women: Cornell 124, Binghamton 55, Birmingham (UK) 24
Wagner Quad
Wednesday at Wagner College Stadium, Staten Island NY
This was actually a tri-meet between Wagner, LIU and St. Francis (NY). The fourth scheduled team, FDU, dropped out. I have been unable to track down any results; none are yet posted to TFRRS.org.