Sports > February 7, 2008

By Nick Oliphant | Staff writer

Kevin Marion continues to show off his speed, even with the football season well past its conclusion. His personal best time of 21.83 seconds in the 200m dash was good for 6th place in the Gold Division of the Akron Invitational. It was the 8th fastest time in Wake Forest history. Even better was Marion’s performance in the long jump.

His leap of 7.35m was second best in school history, and earned him a second place finish at the invite.

His star continues to shine after a football season in which he was third on the team with 88.2 all-purpose yards per game, including a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Although football and track are very different sports, Coach Annie Bennett said, “When you are fast like he is, it only take a couple weeks to get your rhythm back.”

Other athletes had breakout performances in Akron, which was the first indoor meet of the 2008 season.

Nicole Schappert put her name in the Wake record books with a time of 9:31.86 in the 3000m run.

The junior’s time was 8th best in Demon Deacon history and good for second place in the event.

Senior Melissa Council sprinted to a third Deacon second place finish at the invite with a time of 55.25 in the 400m dash.

She was just .65 seconds from setting her second Wake Forest record of the season, having already broken the school’s mark in the 55m dash.

Molly Kennedy competed well in the Pentathlon, with a third place finish in the 800m run highlighting her third place finish in the overall event.

Several other personal bests occurred at the invite. Sophomore Caroline Vaughn completed the 60m hurdles in 8.71 seconds to take second place in the event in the Blue Division.

Freshman Greg Billington ran 3000m in 8:25.19 to finish 11th in the Gold Division event.

Sophomore Nick Lepley competed in the Blue Division 800m run, finishing in 6th place with a time of 1:54.62.

Coach Bennett was pleased with the first performance of the year.

“The coaching staff enjoyed seeing the team’s competitive spirit. They fed off each other’s energy, which aided many of the athletes who set personal bests,” she said.

The team hopes to use this strong performance as a springboard the rest of the season, which continues this weekend at the Virginia Tech Elite meet in Blacksburg, Va.

The event, which has teams from teh SEC, ACC, and Big 10, will feature some of the top teams in the nation including Penn State, Georgia, Clemson, Duke, N.C. State, Miami and Georgia Tech.