Thursday, May 27, 2010

MACON, Ga. - The Atlantic Sun Conference has 10 women's student-athletes headed to the NCAA East Regional. Kennesaw State sends two, UNF two and Jacksonville six to the regional, which begins Thursday. 

Jacksonville - Track & field qualifies six athletes for NCAA postseason events

The JU track & field team will still be busy competing for the new two weeks as the Dolphins qualify six athletes for NCAA postseason events.

Freshman Charlene Charles leads the group after qualifying for the heptathlon in the NCAA National Championships on June 9. She also joins both relay groups (4x100-meter & 4x400-meter) at the NCAA East Preliminary Round starting May 28 in Greensboro, N.C.

Along with the relay events, juniors Unique Singleton and Danielle Davenport each received a spot in the 400-meter, while freshman Joane Pierre qualified for the 800-meter to round out the group at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.

The top 12 finishers from the preliminary round will earn a spot for the NCAA National Championships in Eugene, Ore.

"I am really proud to have this large of a group qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Round,” said JU head coach Ron Grigg. “Looking at the lists, we have legitimate opportunities to finish in the top 12 and advance to the NCAA finals and we expect season's bests across the board for the events in which we are entered. For Charlene to qualify for the NCAA finals in the heptathlon as a freshman is a really remarkable achievement. She is one of only three freshmen in the 24-person field."

Charles earned her trip to Eugene, Ore. by finishing second in the heptathlon at the FSU Relays (3/26) with 5,325 points. She won the high jump (5’7”), 200-meter (24.56), 100-meter hurdles (13.90) and long jump (19’4.25”), while finishing second in the 800-meter (2:19.34).

Charles, Singleton, Davenport and junior Louise Kiernan received the No. 14 seed for 4x100-meter relay after winning the event with a time of 44.86 at the JU-UNF Dual on April 29.

At the FSU Twilight (5/8), junior J’Zotta Rolle along with Charles, Singleton and Davenport ran a school-record time of 3:39.18 (1st) to secure their spot in the NCAA East Preliminary Round.

Singleton won the 400-meter at the Atlantic Sun Championships with a school-record time of 53.80 to get the No. 15 seed, while Davenport recorded a time of 54.23 to get the No. 26 seed.

Jacksonville's Full Release 

Kennesaw State - Ready For the Championships

GREENSBORO, N.C.- Mackenzie Howe and Jill Arthur of the Kennesaw State Owls women’s track and field squad will make history beginning on Thursday, when they compete in the program’s first-ever NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, in the East Preliminary Rounds at the Irwin Belk Track in Aggie Stadium, on the campus of North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.

Each achieved a mark in their respective event that is among the top-48 in the NCAA East Region this year, which gained them entry into this prestigious event. Those who place in the top-12 in their event this weekend will move on, along with the top-12 finishers of each event from the West Preliminary Rounds, to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., beginning June 9.

Howe, a junior, is the reigning Atlantic Sun Conference outdoor champion in the 5000 and 10000 Meters and will be competing in the 10000 Meters on Thursday evening. Her winning time of 35:16.96 set a conference championship record and ranks 32nd in the east coming into this weekend.

Arthur, a junior, won the A-Sun Triple Jump title with a top leap of 12.60, putting her 25th in the region heading into the preliminary rounds.

This is the first time that the Owls will be competing in an NCAA Division I Outdoor Championship, as the athletic department just completed the NCAA’s mandatory, four-year re-classification process, during which time they were not eligible for post-season competition.

Kennesaw State's Full Release

UNF - Trexler and King Head to NCAA Preliminaries

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – University of North Florida field performers, senior Elise Trexler and sophomore Christina King, will travel to North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. for the first round of the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships East Preliminary Round on Thursday-Saturday, May 27-29.
 
“I am thrilled to have two athletes qualify for the NCAA First Round in our first year of eligibility,” said head coach Mark VanAlstyne.  “Both Elise and Christina have done a great job for us all year long and they both have a great shot in continuing and moving on to the next round.”
 
North Florida will send its first two competitors into the NCAA Preliminary Round for the first time in school history.  King and Trexler together will step onto one of the biggest national stages, competing against over 200 colleges and universities east of the Mississippi and approximately 2500 athletes representing their institutions.
 
The high jump will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday and the pole vault will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday. 

UNF's Full Release