June 12, 2008

Three Clemson Men Qualify for Finals in Wednesday Action at NCAA Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Clemson men's track & field qualified all three of its competitors for the finals in two events on the first day of action at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Travis Padgett and Jacoby Ford both advanced to final in the 100m dash, while Mitch Greeley will compete in the pole vault final Friday as well.

"It was a good outing today," said Bob Pollock, head coach of the Tiger track & field program. "Both our sprinters did a good job. Travis maybe took it a little bit too easy in the prelims, but he realized in the semis he needed to step on it a little. Then in the vault, Mitch only needed the one jump to show he's ready to go."

Padgett and Ford survived tough, windy conditions to make the eight-man final in the 100m. Padgett barely qualified for the semifinal round after running a 10.61 into a -2.6 (meters per second) wind. However, the five-time All-American came through with the top time of the day with a 10.20 in the first semifinal. He ran that time into another -2.6 wind.

Duke's Austin Qualifies For Finals In Javelin At NCAA Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Redshirt freshman John Austin placed 11th in the javelin trials with a distance of 211'-8" on the first day of the NCAA Championships at Drake Stadium. By finishing in the top 12 of the 26 competitors, Austin qualified for the javelin finals on Friday at 2:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Results are available on www.flashresults.com and www.trackshark.com is providing a live play-by-play of the entire four-day meet.

Austin's personal best in the javelin is 225'-5," which is also the Duke record in the event and would have placed him fourth in the preliminaries. The 12 finalists will be narrowed down to nine after three throws on Friday, and then the final nine will get three more throws. The top eight finishers at the NCAA's will earn automatic All-America status. Austin is also trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials, which will require a distance of 70 meters (229'-8").

Florida State Off To A Good Start At 2008 NCAA Track & Field Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - As the saying goes, the show must go on. Such was the case at Drake Field in Des Moines, Iowa, where the 2008 NCAA Track & Field Championships finally got under way after a three-hour rain delay. The Seminoles didn't let the inclement weather slow them down as the men moved five competitors and a relay into their respective event finals and the women advanced one.

"We traded punches with LSU today," said head coach Bob Braman. "On a perfect day we've got (Michael Ray) Garvin in the 100m final, but their wild cards didn't get through."

The big story of the day was a familiar one for the Seminoles as senior Walter Dix debuted for the final time in Garnet & Gold. Dix and fellow All-American Michael Ray Garvin easily made it past the first round of the 100m prelims in fourth and fifth place respectively. In the semi-finals later in the day, the two competed in the same heat. Dix finished fourth overall with a 10.45 to advance to the finals on Friday while Garvin came up short with a 13th-place time of 10.59 overall.

Three Hurricanes Advance at NCAA Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - The University of Miami's track and field teams will open the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships with success at the first day of competition Drake University's Drake Stadium.

Four-time All-American and six-time ACC Champion Tim Harris won the first of four preliminary heats in the 800-meters with a time of 1:49.70, qualifying him for tomorrow's semi-final round at 6:25 p.m. The top three finishers in each heat advance to the semi-final round as well as the next four best times.

For the women, freshmen sensations Ti'erra Brown and Takecia Jameson both advanced to the semi-final round in the 400-meter hurdles. Of the five preliminary heats, the top two finishers plus the next six best times move on to Thursday's 5:45 semi-final round.

NC State's Furst, Vegh Advance to Finals at NCAA Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Stephen Furst and Tibor Vegh both advanced to finals after the first day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Furst was 15th in the prelims for the 5,000m run, while Vegh was 14th in the steeplechase.

Furst ran a 14:17.43 to qualify for finals and will look to duplicate the time he ran earlier this year, a 13:49.19 in the finals.

Vegh turned in a 8:52.79 to finish 14th to qualify for finals. Teammate John Martinez just missed the qualifying line, running a 8:58.94.

NC State's Washington Finishes 18th Nationally in Long Jump

DES MOINES, Iowa - NC State senior jump specialist DeMiracle Washington ended her standout track and field career with an 18th-place finish in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Washington jumped 20'06.25" in the prelims to finish 18th nationally.

She leaves NC State as the career record holder in the indoor and outdoor long jump, as well as second all-time in the triple jump.

Tar Heels Open Competition At NCAAs

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Outdoor NCAA Championships opened in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday and the North Carolina track and field teams turned in stellar performances on the opening day of prelims. Freshman LaToya James posted the third-best time in the 400-meter hurdles as she clocked a 57.56 in the event to move on to the semifinal scheduled for Thursday. Four other Tar Heels qualified for the finals in their respective events on Wednesday.

James won her heat, the fifth and final of the preliminaries, as she ran a 57.56. The time was the third-fastest of the season for James in her impressive freshman campaign as she put herself in Thursday's semifinal.

In other track action, fellow freshman Charles Cox ran a 46.71 in the 400-meter dash to move on to Friday's semifinal race for the right to race for the title on Saturday. Cox may have finished fourth in his heat but he was less than a half second from capturing the heat as he finished 15th overall.

Virginia's Ayeni and Grant Advance to Discus Finals at NCAA Championships

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Senior Billie-Jo Grant, junior Yemi Ayeni and sophomore Stephanie Garcia opened competition for the Cavaliers at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa on Wednesday. Grant and Ayeni have both qualified for the finals of their respective discus events on Friday.

Ayeni began the day with the men's discus qualifying round and took second in his flight, and sixth overall, with a throw of 55.80m to advance to Friday's finals at 3:15 p.m. CST. This marks the second-straight season that Ayeni has advanced to the finals of the discus at the national championships. Last season, he earned All-America honors with a seventh place finish and a throw of 56.97m.

Grant's throw of 51.01m was good for a 10th-place finish to advance her to Friday's finals at 5:30 p.m. CST. This will mark the third-time Grant has advanced out of the qualifying round, as she earned All-America honors in both 2005 and 2006, before redshirting the 2007 season.

Eight Hokies Advance in NCAA Competition

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Virginia Tech Track & Field program opened up competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Wednesday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The No. 4 Tech women's team had six athletes advance in the national competition, while the Hokies' No. 40 men's team saw two athletes move onto the final round in their respective field events.

In the semifinals of the 5,000-meter race, Tasmin Fanning currently stands in third place after compiling a time of 16:47.66. The top 16 in the preliminary race will compete in Friday's final, set to begin at 10:15 p.m.

Erin Mahony and Kelly Phillips both cleared season-best heights of 13'5.25" (4.10m) in the qualifying round of the women's pole vault. Mahony, Phillips, and six other competitors will return to action in Friday's final round, which will start at 8:30 p.m.

Wake Forest's Loyd Finishes Competition at NCAA Track Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Wake Forest track and field athlete Michelle Loyd finished out the season in the opening round of the NCAA Championships with a 1:01.93 performance in the 400m hurdles to take fifth place in the fourth heat.

Loyd was Wake Forest's only representative at the 2008 championships after qualifying with a school record 58.06 performance at the Regionals in Tallahassee, Fla. The senior hurdler also ranks in the top ten of the Wake Forest All-Time Performance List in the 400m dash, 100m hurdles and the 1600m relay.