Giles and Sharp Place Second At Nationals
Posted: May 30, 2016

Giles and Sharp Place Second At Nationals

Greenville College's Chelsea Giles and Andrew Sharp each placed second in their events at this weekend's NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships, the highest finishes for any SLIAC participant.

Giles, a junior, finished second in the 400 meter race; picking up eight points for the Panthers in the team standings. She finished the championship race with a time of 54.61 seconds, bettering her previous season best by 0.3 seconds. Giles came into the championship race after winning her preliminary heat (#2) with a time of 55.10 seconds. Hulerie McGuffie of UMass-Boston took home the top spot with a time of 53.55 seconds.

Sharp, a sophomore, liked the turf of Waldorf College as he topped his previous season best (1:51.38) in both runs of the 800 meter race. Sharp started his day by finishing second in his preliminary heat (#2) with at time of 1:50.76. That time was the fifth fastest of the preliminary races. In the championship race Sharp improved on that time by running the event in 1:50.10, for a second place finish. Mitchell Black of Tufts College won the 800 meter race with a time of 1:49.58.

Conrad Bollinger, a senior from Principia College, also competed on the weekend and taking on challengers in the pole vault. Bollinger, who placed fourth last year, took home eighth place this spring with a height of 16'4.75". His jump at the champoinships was more than an inch better than his previous season best. His height was actually fourth among competitors, however it came on his second jump thus accounting for his eight place finish. The winner of the event was Luke Winder from North Central College (Ill.) with a height of 17'4.5".

Jarrid Williams, a junior from Greenville College, rounded out the SLIAC competitors at the championships and finished 14th in the long jump. Williams, who came in with a season best of 23'8.75" was unable to reach that mark this weekend as he finished with a mark of 22'0.25". James Wilson from Monmouth College (Ill.) took home top honors with a jump of 24'5.5".