Date Posted: 6/9/2008

MACON, Ga. - Five A-Sun athletes representing Jacksonville, Belmont, and Campbell prepare to compete against the nation's best on Wednesday at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Champinships in Des Moines, Iowa.

The championships will take place from June 11-14 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. Drake University serves as the host. The last time Drake hosted the championships was in 1970, when Oregon freshman Steve Prefontaine won the title in the 3-mile and 5,000 meter run.

Juniors Natasha Harvey and Shaquania Lundy represent the Jacksonville women in the long jump. Harvey and Lundy finished first and second, respectively at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Outdoor Track and Field Championships, then followed that performance with another one-two finish at the NCAA East Regional Meet. Harvey's top performance of the year came at the A-Sun Championships, when she lept 21-3 1/4 (6.48m). That effort gives her the eighth-best qualifying mark of the 28-person field. Lundy achieved her best jump of the season at the East Regional, where she hit the sand at the 21-00 (6.40m) mark, good enough for 15th in the nation. This year marks Harvey's third-straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump and her fifth trip to nationals overall; twice she competed in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, most recently finishing third in 2008. Lundy's trip to nationals marks her first during an outdoor campaign and second overall; she came in 16th in the long jump at the 2008 indoor meet.

Senior Lauren Weaver and junior Lynette Rives make their first trip to the national outdoor meet wearing Belmont blue and red. Weaver earned an automatic qualification after her second-place finish in the 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Mid East Regional, posting a time of 16:26.02. Rives had to sweat a little before she learned she would be making the trip to Des Moines. Placing sixth in the 200-meter dash at the Mid East Regional, she missed out on an automatic qualfication by one spot. Rives came out of a pool of at-large hopefuls, ultimately earning qualficiaton based on her regional performance, where she ran a 23.21, breaking her own school record. While the trip to the National Championships is the first in any season for Rives, Weaver participated in the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Champinship in the fall, placing 45th.

The lone male A-Sun representative in Des Moines, Campbell senior Sam Tilly earned his second bid to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in the long jump. Tilly made the grade on the strength of a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA East Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. Tilly leapt 24-5 1/2 (7.45m) to cement his place in the field of 26 student-athletes. In 2007, Tilly turned in a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships after jumping 23-10 1/4 (7.27m). 

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.

Related Links:
 • Declared Male Athletes by Event
 • Declared Female Athletes by Event