Western Carolina Opens Up 2015 NCAA East Preliminary
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Five Western Carolina track & field student-athletes competed on the opening day of the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary Round. Senior Michaela Birek was the first to compete for the Catamounts on the track and she turned in the best performance of the day. Birek came up just 32 hundredths of a second short of qualifying for the NCAA quarterfinals in the 400m hurdles.
Birek ran the opening heat of the 400m hurdles and finished fourth which was one spot short of an automatic berth to the quarterfinals. She then had to wait out whether she would be one of the six next fastest runners out of the six heats. She ended up finishing 28th overall with a time of 59.51 which was .32 short of the final qualifying spot of 59.19.
Sophomore Hailey Cook was next to finish as she competed in the women's shot put. Cook finished 47th overall with a toss of 13.01m (42-08.25).
Junior Tayla Carter, who is a three-time NCAA East Preliminary qualifier, ran the first of two events that she qualified for this season. Carter finished seventh in her heat and 31st overall in the 100m with a time of 11.79.
Freshman Brenden Caldwell was the first male to compete for the Catamounts as he finished seventh in his heat and 39th overall with a time of 10.73 in the 100m.
Freshman Henry Kiedy closed out the day with a 46th overall finish in the 400m. He posted a time of 48.49.
Senior Xaviera Bass (100m hurdles), senior Abraham Faison (110m hurdles), junior Tayla Carter (200m) and senior Alisha Bradshaw (discus) will all be in action tomorrow, May 29, at the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary.
Furman's Haughey Advances To NCAA Championships In 10,000m
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Furman’s Sinead Haughey advanced to the NCAA Championships after placing seventh with a time of 34:05.80 in the 10,000m Thursday evening at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional in Jacksonville, Fla. The top 12 finishers advanced to the finals, which will be held in Eugene, Ore., June 10-13.
A senior from Central, S.C., Haughey qualified for the regional meet in the event for the second-straight year after recording a time of 33:53.34 to set a new Paladin record at the Stanford Invitational in April.
Haughey, who was chosen the Paladins’ Team MVP for outdoor track and field for the second-consecutive season, bested her own school record in the 5,000m with a time of 16:26.04 at the Raleigh Relays in March. She won the league title in the 5,000m with a time of 17:04.84 and finished fifth with a time of 4:23.40 in the 1,500m at the SoCon outdoor meet. Haughey also holds Paladin indoor records in the 3,000m (9:27.51) and the 5,000m (16:35.17).
Sophomore Tanner Hinkle also competed in the 10,000m at the regional meet on Thursday, turning in a time of 30:45.68 for 22nd place. Hinkle, who hails from Mason, Mich., competed in the event at the NCAA regionals for the second-consecutive season after posting a time of 29:16.77 at the Stanford Invitational in April, topping his own school record in the event. This outdoor season, he also set a new Furman outdoor 5,000m record with a time of 14:09.61.
Paladin runners Tripp Hurt and Allie Buchalski will compete in the 3,000m Steeplechase on Friday in the second day of the regional meet. The women’s 3,000m Steeplechase will take place at 8:50 p.m., followed by the men’s race at 9:30 p.m. The top 12 finishers in each race will advance to the NCAA Championship meet.
A senior from Bogart, Ga., Hurt qualified for the regional meet in the event after recording a time of 8:47.76 at the Virginia Challenge last month. Last season, he finished 20th with a time of 8:57.27 in the 3,000m Steeplechase national semifinals after placing sixth with a time of 8:44.28, a new Paladin record, in the event at the NCAA East Regional.
Hurt, the 2015 Furman Male Athlete of the Year, was named the SoCon Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year after winning the individual title and leading the Paladins to their second-straight conference team championship. He was also named the SoCon Men’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Performer after winning the league title in both the 3,000m and 5,000m in February. The first Furman men’s runner to earn All-SoCon honors four-consecutive years for cross country, Hurt helped the Paladins to a second-place finish at the NCAA regional cross country meet, where he led the team with an eighth place finish to earn all-region honors.
Buchalski, a redshirt freshman from Johns Creek, Ga., holds the Furman record of 10:13.10 in the event, which she set at the Stanford Invitational in April.
The SoCon Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, Buchalski was chosen the team MVP for cross country after winning the individual title and leading the Paladins to their second-consecutive conference team championship. She placed ninth at the NCAA regional meet to earn all-region honors and advance to the NCAA Championships as an individual. Buchalski was also chosen the SoCon Women’s Indoor Track Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Performer after winning the mile and finishing second in both the 3,000m and 5,000m. During the outdoor track season, she was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year after winning the 1,500m and placing second in the 5,000m at the league championship meet.
ETSU's Williams Ends Season at NCAA Regional
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – ETSU sophomore Mike Williams saw his track and field season come to an end on Thursday evening at the NCAA Outdoor East Preliminary.
Needing to finish 24th or better to advance into Friday’s quarterfinal of the 400mH, Williams clocked in at 52.13, placing him 30th in the 48-man field at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.
LSU’s Quincy Downing, who was in Williams’ heat, posted the top time in the first round of the event as he finished with a mark of 50.35, while Lemaar Shakir of Savannah State was the final hurdler to qualify for the quarterfinal. Shakir finished in 51.99.
ETSU still has two athletes remaining in the Regional as senior Dede Edgecombe and sophomore Brett Squibbs will be in action on Friday in the River City. Squibbs will be competing in the pole vault at 4:30 p.m., while Edgecombe will look to advance out of the first round of the 100mH at 5 p.m.