Feb. 17, 2007

KINGSTON, RI - Senior Ashhad Agyapong won the 200m and 400m dashes for the third straight year and Shareese Woods set a pair of Championship records as the Rhode Island men and Charlotte women captured titles at the 2007 A-10 Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at Rhode Island's Mackal Field House.

Rhody junior Yudehwheh Gbaa was named the Most Outstanding Field Performer, while head coach John Copeland garnered his fourth Coach of the Year Award for the Rams. La Salle senior Sean Quigley was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer, and Temple's Josh Louis earned Most Outstanding Rookie honors.

Rhode Island scored 190 points, finishing ahead of La Salle (162), defending champion Charlotte (143), Massachusetts (60), Fordham (51), Saint Joseph's (47), Richmond (38), Temple (37), Xavier (8) and Saint Louis (1).

Gbaa was crowned champion in the triple jump with a leap of 50 feet, 2 ¾ inches (15.31m), while finishing third in the triple jump (22-10 ¾, 6.98m). He also registered a third-place showing in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.64 clocking.

Quigley set an A-10 Championship record with a time of 4:09.30 in winning the mile, breaking the previous mark of 4:10.45 posted by Saint Joseph's Brian Rosetti in 2003. He also successfully defended his 3,000-meter crown, finishing in a time of 8:27.12. Graduate student teammate John Butler finished second in both events, registering times of 4:11.61 in the mile and 8:31.93 in the 3,000 for an Explorer sweep of the top-two spots in both events.

Louis was named A-10 Champion in the high jump after clearing 6-7 (2.01m).

Rhode Island senior Ashhad Agyapong swept the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes for the third-straight season, crossing the finish line in 21.33 and 48.77, respectively, in each event. He also finished third in the 55-meter dash in 6.38. Rhody junior Sean Strizzi also defended his pole vault title with a winning effort of 15-9 (4.80m), edging sophomore teammate John Carstensen in second place with a vault of 15-3 (4.65m).

Charlotte junior Jason Moore crossed the line in the 55-meter dash with a winning time of 6.21, while running to second place in the 200 meters with a 21.67 showing.

Now in his 25th season at Rhode Island, Copeland was also named the A-10 Indoor Coach of the Year in 2001, 2002 and 2004. This season's title marked the Rams' fifth conference championship as they also won it in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005.

On the women's side, Woods was named the Most Outstanding Track Performer for the second-straight year, while head coach Bob Olesen received Coach of the Year honors. Fordham senior Kerstin Greene took home Most Outstanding Field Performer honors, while Richmond's Amy Van Alstine garnered Most Outstanding Rookie recognition.

The 49ers totaled 167 points, followed by Richmond (110), Rhode Island (86), La Salle (71), Duquesne (70), Dayton (64), Fordham (48), Temple (42), Saint Joseph's (30), Massachusetts (21), Saint Louis (17) and Xavier (14).

Woods successfully defended her 200- and 400-meter dash championships from last season, clocking Atlantic 10 Championship-record times of 24.17 and 54.42 seconds, respectively. She broke her own record (55.11) in the 400 that she registered at last year's championship, while breaking the old mark of 24.52 in the 200 set by West Virginia's Kay Iheagwam in 1995.

Greene finished the day taking first in the triple jump with an A-10 Championship record leap of 40 feet, 9 inches (12.42m), while ending up second in the long jump with a jump of 18-11 ¾ (5.78m). Her triple jump mark bested the old record of 40-6 ¼ (12.35m) set by Rhode Island's Pascale Delaunay in 2004.

Van Alstine ran to second place in the mile with a time of 4:54.44 and also finished third in the 3,000m, crossing the finish line in a time of 10:04.36.

Richmond sophomore Jessica Young set an A-10 Championship record in winning the 55-meter dash (6.81), while running to second place in the 200-meter dash (24.80). Her 55-meter time bested the mark set by West Virginia's Trinese Summerlin (6.90) in 1993.

La Salle senior Rachel Papin also posted an A-10 Championship record time in the 3,000 meters, finishing with a time of 9:46.29 to break the mark set by West Virginia's Erin O'Reilly in 1993.

The host Rams were led by junior Katie Kostiew and her first-place effort of 42-10 ¾ (13.07m) in the shot put.

Olesen took home the conference's top coaching honor for the second year in a row in his fifth season as head coach of the 49ers. He has led Charlotte to the team title in both years since Charlotte joined the A-10 for the 2005-06 season.