RICHMOND, Va. - Earning five gold medals on the day and setting four school records over the weekend, the Georgia State women's track team came from behind to win its first CAA Championship and first women's track and field title in school history on Saturday afternoon in Richmond. The Panthers ended the weekend with 133 points, 28 ahead of second place George Mason.
Fourteen GSU women's student-athletes earned All-CAA accolades.
Senior Yolanda Berryhill earned Most Outstanding Field Performer accolades after winning the shot put and discus and finishing fourth in the hammer throw. She scored 25 points for GSU. The Leesburg, Ga., native ends her career with two CAA discus titles and four All-CAA honors. She owns school records in all three events.
Berryhill's Most Outstanding Field Performer award was the third year in a row GSU has earned a top performer accolade as Tamika Kinchen earned Co-Outstanding Track Performer last year and Brandy Swann earned Co-Rookie of the Year in 2009.
In the opening event of the day, Berryhill won the shot put with a throw of 13.97 meters. Senior Brittany Rhea also earned State points with a distance of 12.08 meters and a seventh place finish.
Junior Angelia Nugent, who won the long jump competition on Friday and set a new school record in the event with a leap of 6.06m, took the top spot in the triple jump and broke her own school record with a leap of 12.37 meters.
Senior Shaquita Young took first place in the high jump with a mark of 1.71 meters to give the Panthers three gold medals in the first three events of the day.
Berryhill came back later in the morning to earn first place honors in the women's discus throw with a toss of 48.78 meters, winning the event by over three meters. The mark topped her old school record of 48.62m by .16 meters.
Senior Jacia Montgomery finished second and broke her own school record in the heptathlon with 4,530 points. She opened the day with a first place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.46 meters. She followed with a third place finish in the javelin throw (29.65m) and third place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:31.60.
In a photo finish, freshman Tamara Moore took first place in the 100-meter hurdles over UNC Wilmington's Cortney Wright. The two had nearly equal times, with Moore's 13.842 just surpassing Wright's 13.849 to earn the gold medal.
Sophomore Danielle Hill set a new school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 58.90 to finish first. She broke Tarjatta Rose's record by under a second. Senior Lavina Dent and sophomore Leah Norman also earned points for the Panthers finishing in sixth and seventh place respectively.
Sophomore Katharine Showalter finished second in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, setting a personal best with a time of 10:56.86, the Panthers best time of the spring season. It was her second All-CAA accolade in the steeplechase. Sophomore Alison Bishop and junior Kacee Houle also earned points for State, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
Junior Brandy Swann took third place in the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 55.93 seconds and fifth place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.51.
In the final event of the championship, the four-man team of Nugent, Swann, Dent and Hill finished third in the 4x400 meter relay, giving the Panthers six points and enough to secure the title.
The closest GSU has come to a women's track and field title before this season was four third-place finishes in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2009.
Berryhill, Nugent, Showalter, Hill and Swann have all earned All-CAA accolades at previous CAA Championships.
On the men's side, Kasey Rollins finished third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.05.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Alex Gainous, Cory Smith, Rollins and Chris Miles finished fourth with a time of 42.23.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Gainous, Chris Harper, Michael Dampier and Femi Bab-Oke placed sixth with a time of 3:29.48.
The men's team finished with 14 points total.
