Sunday, June 01, 2008

MACON, Ga. - After NCAA Regional competition wrapped up this weekend, Campbell's Sam Tilly, Belmont's Lauren Weaver and Jacksonville's Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy assured themselves a spot in the National Championships.

The NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11-14.

Tilly, a senior, heads to the NCAA Championships in the long jump for the second-consecutive season. He earned an automatic qualification from the NCAA East Region in Tallahassee, Fla. after a fifth-place finish in the event. Tilly, the lone male A-Sun representative at the National Meet, jumped 24-5 1/2 (7.45m). 

For the women, Jacksonville's duo of Harvey and Lundy were too much for the rest of the East Region to handle in the long jump, as they placed first and second in the event. Harvey took the gold with a leap of 21-2 1/4 (6.47m), followed closely by Lundy after her bound of 21-00 (6.40m). While Lundy makes her first voyage to the National Champinships, Harvey embarks on her third journey, all of which are in the long jump. She qualified twice in the long jump indoors, most recently taking third-place in March.

Competing in the Mid East Regional in Fayetteville, Ark., Weaver placed second in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 16:26.02 for the automatic bid to nationals. She earns her first bid to the NCAA Championships in Track & Field, although she is not new to the national stage; she competed in the NCAA Cross Country Champinship earlier this year, placing 45th.

The National Championship field could include three more A-Sun representatives, as Jacksonville's Janel Grooms (800-meter run), ETSU's Jenny Knox (100-meter dash) and Belmont's Lynette Rives (200-meter dash) all await potential at-large bids. Grooms placed 12th in the 800 at the East Regional in a time of 2:08.21, Knox came in eighth in the 100 at Mid East Regional after finishing the sprint in 11.55, and Rives ran the 200 in 23.31, good enough for sixth in the Mid East Regional. Grooms, Knox, and Rives will learn their fate on June 3, when the NCAA Track and Field subcommittee completes the at-large selections.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.