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NCAA Track & Field Championships Set To For Action
June 4, 2012
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA is set to send 21 females and 11 males to the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four-day event will be hosted by Drake inside the Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-9. Daily results can be accessed at http://www.flashresults.com and fans can view live action on ESPN3.com and ESPNU. Broadcast schedule is as follow: C-USA Track & Field Notebook & Top Times At the NCAA East and West Preliminary Rounds, the league saw 10 athletes finish among the top three in their respective events. Headlining the list was East Carolina's Tynita Butts and Ganna Demydova of Southern Miss. The duo won the high jump and triple jumps, respectively, while UCF dominated the women's East 100 and 200-meter events. Butts, a three-time All-America performer and three-time defending Conference USA outdoor high jump champion, posted a mark of 1.81m/5-11.25". It will be the second career appearance at the national championship for Butts as she took seventh place her freshman year. Demydova registered a mark of 13.99m/45-10.75" and will be making her second trip to the NCAA National meet. Defending indoor and outdoor NCAA long jump champion Tori Bowie will also return to the run way for Southern Miss. Bowie produced a leap of 6.38m/20-11.25" for second place at regionals. The No. 13 UCF women's team looks to improve upon its eighth-place finish at the Indoor Championships, which marked the program's top placing in school history. UCF is the highest ranked member of Conference USA as Southern Miss checks in at No. 23. Last week, the Knights witnessed six student-athletes earn berths to the NCAA Championships. Octavious Freeman, Aurieyall Scott and Sheila Paul will each compete in the 100m and 200m, while teammate Jackie Coward will attempt to win a gold medal in the 100m hurdles along with Karessa Farley and Houston's Demeeka Jones and Janice Jackson of UTEP. Sonnisha Williams will represent the Knights in the long jump.
The Cougar women will send five athletes as Grecia Bolton and Tai'Shea Reese will compete in the 100m and 200m, respectively, as well as in the 4x100m relay. Kiersten Brewer and Alicia Perkins completes Houston's relay team. Tulane's Ana Ruzevic will be the only C-USA javelin thrower at the NCAA Championships. The senior fouled on four of her six attempts, but her second throw of 46.53m/152-8" pushed her to Des Moines. This will be her third-straight trip to nationals as she was a first team All-American last season when she finished fourth. On the men's side, Houston will be sending a league-best five athletes while East Carolina and Tulsa will have two each. Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss and UTEP will also have one apiece. The Cougars will have their 4x400m relay team that consist of Xavier Boyd, Doug Kelley, Dominique Charles and Errol Nolan. Nolan, C-USA champion in the 200m and 400m, is also set to compete in the 400m dash after placing third in the event with a time of 45.92 at the West Regional last weekend. C-USA triple jump champion,Thomas Lang recorded a mark of 15.75m/51-8.25" for ninth-place to advance to nationals. All-American Chris O'Hare advanced to the NCAAs by finishing sixth in the 1,500m for Tulsa. The indoor mile national champion reached the finals last year, where he placed 11th overall. Carl Stones qualified for nationals by finishing fifth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:51.03. He will be the first Tulsa runner to ever compete in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championship. ECU will have Dennis Aliotta and Quinton Harley in Iowa. Harley ran a season-best time of 51.01 in the 400m hurdles to qualify for a trip to Des Moines. He is the reigning C-USA champion in the event and will make his first career appearance in the national semifinal. Aliotta finished fourth in the shot put at the NCAA East Preliminary Round with a mark of 19.30m/63-4.0", his second best of the year. Memphis' Darius Lynwood (high jump), Clayton Chaney of Rice (decathlon), Richard Collingwood of Southern Miss (discus) and UTEP's Anthony Rotich (3000m steeplechase) will also be competing in the final event of the 2012 collegiate season. 2012 C-USA MEN'S NCAA QUALIFIERS 1,500m 3,000m Steeplechase 400m Hurdles 4x400m Relay High Jump Triple Jump Shot Put Discus Decathlon 2012 C-USA WOMEN'S NCAA QUALIFIERS 200m 10,000m 100m Hurdles 4x100m Relay High Jump Long Jump Triple Jump Discus Javelin |
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