Granger Profiled by Big South in

Women's Track and Field VMIKeydets.com

Record Point Total Highlights VMI's Efforts at BSC Championships

CLEMSON, S.C. – Helped by event wins from Hannah Granger and Kate Collins, the VMI women's track and field team posted a school record point total as action wrapped up at the 2010 Big South Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The Keydets finished with 52 points, which is the program's highest total at any conference championships, indoor or outdoor. By surpassing their 42 points from the 2008 Big South Outdoor Championships, the Keydets finished in a tie for sixth place with High Point, just a single point behind Winthrop. Gardner-Webb (42.5 points) and UNC Asheville (7) brought up the rear, while Liberty won the team title with 182.5 points. Coastal Carolina was second (145), while Radford (70) and Charleston Southern (59) rounded out the standings.

“To see these 15 women score 52 points was very exciting,” said VMI head coach Darrin Webb. “They tripled last year's point total, and looking at the final numbers, I'm also excited about their opportunity to move up in the future.”

Granger's event win came in the 5,000-meters, as she once again bested rival Dacia Bushman of Liberty. In both of Granger's previous Big South Championship wins, last year's outdoor 10,000-meters and this year's cross country championship, Bushman had finished in the second position, and that happened once again Sunday.

The now eight-time All-Big South honoree trailed early, but surged to second about halfway through the race. She took the lead with 11 laps to go and never looked back, finishing in a time of 17:41.21 to beat Bushman by more than 10 seconds. Granger's win marked VMI's first indoor Big South title since the 2004 meet, when Mildred Cooper claimed the shot put, but the junior would not be the only Keydet to claim a conference title Sunday.

Collins triumphed in the pole vault, as the freshman claimed the win with a clearance of 3.50 meters (11'5 ¾”). The effort equaled the school record that Collins tied for the first time last weekend at Virginia Tech, but that clearance alone was not enough to win the event title. Three other competitors jumped over the bar at that height, as Shelley Parker (Liberty), Carrie Long (Gardner-Webb) and Mary Lawrence (Coastal Carolina) were all able to do so. However, Parker and Long missed twice at the height before going over, while Lawrence cleared on her second attempt. Collins sailed over the bar on her first try at 3.50 meters, which eventually put her atop the podium.

Collins' win makes her the first Keydet besides Cooper to claim a field event at a conference championship, as the former VMI thrower won four shot put titles during her efforts in both the Southern and Big South Conferences. Granger and Collins' efforts marked the first time the VMI program has won multiple events at a conference meet.

Another standout competitor for the Keydets Sunday was Collins' classmate, fellow freshman Jenna Moye. Moye was fourth in the mile (5:09.75), nearly earning a podium finish with a late surge. She then came back late in the event to place sixth behind Granger in the 5,000-meters, crossing the line in 18:05.85.

VMI's other scorer Sunday was Chandale Williams, competing in her final indoor conference championship. Williams posted a seasonal best in the 400-meters, placing sixth in a time of 57.57 to earn the Keydets' final three points.

VMI track and field will return to action Saturday, as qualified Keydets take part in the IC4A/ECAC Championships, to be held in Boston, Mass.
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Players Mentioned

Kate Collins

Kate Collins

Pole Vault
5' 7"
Freshman
Hannah Granger

Hannah Granger

Distance
Junior
Jenna Moye

Jenna Moye

Distance
Freshman
Chandale Williams

Chandale Williams

Sprints
Senior

Players Mentioned

Kate Collins

Kate Collins

5' 7"
Freshman
Pole Vault
Hannah Granger

Hannah Granger

Junior
Distance
Jenna Moye

Jenna Moye

Freshman
Distance
Chandale Williams

Chandale Williams

Senior
Sprints