UNC track preps for postseason

Another tune-up sporting event on North Carolina’s campus took place less than a mile away from the North Carolina football Spring Game Saturday.

The UNC track and field team, less than a week out from the ACC outdoor championships, ran, jumped and threw its way to the end of its home season at the Joe Hilton Invitational, the Tar Heels’ last meet before they travel to Raleigh for the conference championships. Teams in attendance included Duke, N.C. State and Michigan.

Six UNC athletes won their respective events, and seven set personal bests.

One of those winners was junior distance runner Isaac Presson, who took first in the McAfee Mile, an honorary race commemorating former Tar Heel athlete Reggie McAfee, the first African-American athlete to run a sub-four-minute mile during his career at UNC. Saturday was the 40th anniversary of his record-breaking run.

Presson nearly matched his effort.

“The big goal was to try and go under four minutes,” Presson said Sunday.

He started the race conservatively, running with the pack of runners until it hit 1,000 meters. Then, with about 600 meters left, he surged to the lead, and he did not relinquish it. He won the race in 4:02.22.

Making Presson’s win even more notable was that he beat Stephen Furst, a professional runner sponsored by Adidas. His win also had historic implications: If the mile were still an NCAA-sanctioned outdoor event, Presson’s time would be the third-fastest in UNC history.

“It was a good last chance to sharpen up for ACCs,” Presson said.

Another strong performance came from freshman Tory Kemp, who won the women’s high jump by clearing 5 feet, 8 3/4 inches.

“She really fired up the field,” sophomore pole vaulter Cameron Overstreet said.

Overstreet, who placed second at the ACC indoor championships in February, won the women’s pole vault Saturday. She cleared 13 feet, 3 1/2 inches but left unsatisfied.

“Individually I was a little disappointed,” Overstreet said Sunday, adding that she entered the meet encouraged by a solid week of practice leading up to it. “I couldn’t put things together as well as I was hoping to.”

She said she hopes her practices will come together this weekend, when she vaults at the conference championships. Her goal is to clear 14 feet.

“I’m motivated to do a lot better at ACCs,” she said. “I really want to prove to myself that I can do that well.”

This week the Tar Heels will take it easy in practice — a “mini-taper,” as Presson calls it, to prepare for the weekend.

Presson and Overstreet both have their sights set on individual conference titles.

“The goal at ACCs is to try to win a gold medal in the 1,500,” Presson said.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.