Wednesday, June 04, 2008

MACON, Ga. - After finishing sixth in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Mid East Regional this past weekend, Lynette Rives of Belmont earned an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championships in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11.

Rives, a junior, joins teammate Lauren Weaver, who notched an automatic bid last weekend following a silver-medal performance in the 5,000-meter run. Rives broke her own school record at the Mid East Regional Meet, finishing the 200 in 23.21. Both Rives and Weaver clinched their first appearance at the NCAA National Championships.

The duo from Belmont joins another set of teammates in Jacksonville's Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy. Both Harvey and Lundy will compete in the long jump after finishing one-two at the NCAA East Regional last weekend. 

Two other A-Sun athletes found themselves in the at-large pool, but were not selected to compete in Des Moines next week. Jacksonville's Janel Grooms and ETSU's Jenny Knox came up just short of a selection. Grooms placed 12th in the 800-meter run at the East Regional in a time of 2:08.21 and Knox came in eighth in the 100-meter dash at Mid East Regional after finishing the sprint in 11.55.

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.