MOUNT OLIVE — Two-time defending conference outdoor champion Mount Olive has been picked first out of eight teams in the 2013 Conference Carolinas Women’s Track and Field preseason poll, as voted on by the conference head women’s track and field coaches. The Trojans received four of eight first-place votes and were among three teams to receive a first-place vote as only seven points separated the top three finishers.
Three Sampson County natives are on the teams. On the men’s team is Erasmo Ordonez, a junior, is from Harrells and a Union High School graduate. On the women’s team is Karina Ordonez,a freshman from the Harrells area, and Adora Becton of Turkey, also a freshman. Both women also graduated from Union High School.
Mount Olive seeks its third consecutive Conference Carolinas women’s outdoor track and field championship and hopes to capture the inaugural women’s indoor track and field title. The Trojan women’s track and field team hopes to be the third team in school history to win a conference championship three years in a row.
Top returner is junior Alaytra Carswell, who became the first freshman in school history in any sport to win a conference player of the year and is now the only Trojan student-athlete to do so in both their freshman and sophomore years.
Carswell, who won the 200 meter and 400 meter dash at last year’s Conference Carolinas Championship, was the 2011 and 2012 Conference Carolinas Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, as well as the 2011 Freshman of the Year.
Carswell is among six returning All-Conference Carolinas performers for the Trojans. Aery Brown, Chelsea Long and Amber Thompson earned all-conference in track events last year, while Denise Harrison and Char’de Washington captured all-conference honors in field events. Thompson is coming off a spectacular cross country season, having won the 2012 Conference Carolinas Women’s Cross Country individual title and earning Conference Carolinas Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year and Scholar Athlete of the Year accolades.
Mount Olive finished the 2012 indoor season atop the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Rankings and went wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Outdoor Rankings.
The Trojans collected 46 points in the poll to finish four points ahead of second-place Limestone and seven points ahead of third-place King. Limestone picked up three first-place votes, while King received the remaining first-place vote.
The first-ever Conference Carolinas Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship is scheduled for Feb. 16. The 2013 Conference Carolinas Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championship takes place April 19-20 at Banner Elk.
Mount Olive resumes its indoor season Jan. 20 at the Winston-Salem State University Open. The Trojans’ outdoor season opener is March 8-9 at the Coastal Carolina University Invitational.
Men
Two-time defending champion Mount Olive received six of seven first-place votes and was picked first in the 2013 Conference Carolinas Men’s Track and Field Preseason Poll, as voted on by the head men’s track and field coaches in the conference. Mount Olive seeks its third consecutive Conference Carolinas men’s outdoor track and field championship and hopes to capture the inaugural men’s indoor track and field title. The Trojan men’s track and field team hopes to be the third team in school history to win a conference championship three years in a row.
Despite losing four All-Conference Carolinas performers from last year, Mount Olive got off to an impressive start in its first indoor competition in December. Sebastian Jackson broke two-time all-conference and 2011 Conference Carolinas Men’s Field Athlete of the Year Joey Murphy’s school record in the weight throw.
Freshmen Joaquim Cotano-Lezcano and Stedmond Hampton broke school records in the 500 and 300 meters, respectively.
The Trojans also return two All-Southeast Region performers from 2012. Erasmo Ordonez, who competed in the NCAA Division II Men’s Cross Country Championship in November, earned All-Region indoor honors. Caleb Henderson, a 2011 All-Conference Carolinas selection, earned All-Region honors last year in both indoor and outdoor track. Mount Olive finished the 2012 indoor season atop the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Rankings and went wire-to-wire at No. 1 in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Outdoor Rankings.
Mount Olive garnered 48 points to finish seven points ahead of second-place King, which received the remaining first-place vote.
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