Friday, June 26, 2009

EUGENE, Ore. - Four A-Sun student-athletes - ETSU's Heidi Dahl, Belmont's Lynette Rives and Kennesaw State's Jemir Martinez and Suzzette Van-Lare - earned spots in USA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Dahl and Rives will compete in the USA National Track and Field Championships while Martinez and Van-Lare will test their skills at the 2009 USA Junior National Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Dahl will run in the 1500m after posting a time of 4:14.92 in the prelims of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Orem, Utah native finished sixth in the finals and received All-American status following the race in Fayetteville, Ark.

Rives is one of only 32 sprinters to compete in the 200m and one of only nine running representing their undergraduate institutions. Rounding out her career of firsts, Rives will become the first Belmont track and field athlete, male or female, to compete at the annual gathering of the nation's best.

Martinez will represent the Owls in the 100m after qualifying with a time of 10.66 in the event at the Outdoor Conference Championships on May 15. Martinez is scheduled to compete at 2:20 p.m. on Friday, June, 26. Meanwhile, Van-Lare will compete in the triple jump which is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 28. She qualified for the meet, after recording a jump of 11.95m at the Outdoor Conference championships as well.

For live video streaming and more information regarding the USA National Championships, visit www.usatf.org. The final three days will be televised with ESPN picking up coverage on Friday (8-10 p.m. ET) and Saturday (7:30-9:30 p.m. ET) night and NBC airing events on Sunday (4-6 p.m. ET).