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The Daily Tar Heel

Questions Abound for UNC Track

The UNC track and field teams hope to use outdoor events to their advantage at the ACC championships.

After grabbing seven consecutive first-place conference finishes from 1992 to 1998, UNC's women's team finally reclaimed its position atop the ACC last year.

The team is hoping for an outcome this weekend in Charlottesville, Va., similar to 2001's down-to-the-wire conference victory in Orlando, Fla.

The men, however, don't want a repeat of recent past.

Because of an injury-prone distance squad and a lack of depth in the sprints and hurdles, the men's team has placed fourth in its last two outdoor championships.

And with the team depth of a sprinting power like reigning conference champion Clemson, a UNC men's win is extremely unlikely.

"Until we get that depth we're going to be a middle-of-the-road ACC team, which I absolutely hate," said UNC coach Dennis Craddock in an interview earlier this season.

But one bright spot for the men is that they're stronger outdoors than indoors because of the throwing events in the spring.

Senior Sal Gigante leads the conference in the hammer throw and is second in the discuss. Both are events not used during the indoor season.

Meanwhile senior Ian Douglas, a two-time ACC outdoor champion in the shot put, leads the conference with a mark of 59 feet, 2 1/4 inches.

The men also are stacked in the jumps.

Junior Adam Shunk is 10th in the conference in the long jump and third in the nation in the high jump. Brent Callaway, another two-time outdoor champion, leads the ACC in the pole vault.

"The throws and jumps are going to be our strong points," said junior sprinter Joseph Handy. "But I talked to the sprinters, and we definitely don't want to be the weak link of the team. We've been battling a lot of injuries, but other than that, we're ready to go."

The women's team isn't injury-free either. Junior 1,500-meter runner Bobbie Jo Munson and senior 800 runner Rebecca Walker are recovering from injuries.

But the team touts the nation's leading shot-put thrower, freshman Laura Gerraughty, who also is second in the ACC in the hammer throw and discuss. Her top mark in the shot put is 56-3 1/4.

The Tar Heels also are led by its distance and middle distance squads and will be battling the reigning indoor ACC champions Georgia Tech and Clemson for the outdoor title.

Even Alice Schmidt, the 2001 ACC champion in the 800 will be fighting the Yellow Jackets for first.

"This will be a good chance for me to post a good time, especially because there will be strong competition with Georgia Tech," Schmidt said.

The Tar Heels also have sophomore Shalane Flanagan, last year's winner of the 1,500 and 5,000.

"We're looking to compete really hard at ACCs," Schmidt said. "Many of us are peaking now. I think we have a good shot at it because we look a little bit stronger than Georgia Tech outdoors."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu

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