May 28, 2008
ATLANTA – Six men and 12 women will represent the Georgia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams at the NCAA East Region Championship Friday-Saturday, May 30-31 at the Mike Long Track on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, Fla.
The Yellow Jackets will be competing for the right to advance to the 2008 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 11-14. The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three finishers in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.
“We look forward to heading to Tallahassee and to the opportunity to compete in this great meet,” men’s head coach Grover Hinsdale said. “The East Region has been by far the most competitive region since we started this format in 2003. This Championship will be no exception. We are healthy and looking forward to getting a number of our team members into the National Championships.”
The men’s squad is led by senior James Lemons II, who has qualified in both the triple jump with a best mark of 53 feet, 6 ½ inches and the long jump with a mark of 24 feet, 10 ½ inches. Sophomore Alphonso Jordan has also qualified in multiple events with regional marks in the triple jump (52 feet, 8 inches) and the 110-meter hurdles (14.26).
Sophomore Steve Marcelle will compete in the shot put behind a season-best mark of 61 feet, 6 ¾ inches and the discus with a mark of 179 feet, 6 inches. Also competing for the men are juniors E.C. Gibbs (1500-meter run), Mario Johnson (400-meter hurdles), and Andy Powlen (shot put).
“We’re excited about competing at the NCAA Track & Field East Region Championships this weekend in Tallahassee,” women’s head coach Alan Drosky said. “We started our season with conditioning way back in the fall and now have twelve women involved with postseason competition. With a mix of season veterans and talented newcomers, we’ll compete hard to advance even further, to the NCAA National Championships in Des Moines.”
Senior All-American Shantia Moss will look to reach her fourth straight NCAA Championship appearance in the 100-meter hurdles as she leads the women’s team this weekend. She ran a personal-best time of 13.01 in the 100m hurdles at the Georgia Tech Invitational, which was good for the sixth-best time in the nation. Moss is also scheduled to join Jenae Anderson, Taylor Davidson and Jacqua Williams on the 4×100-meter relay team.
Williams, a junior standout on the Tech women’s basketball team, has qualified in both the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.67 and the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.49. Also competing for the Jackets are senior Jenny Sims (1500m), juniors Alana Clooten (hammer throw) and Kimery Hern (hammer throw) and freshman Leslie Njoku (400m Hurdles) and Joanna Wright (pole vault).
The women’s team will also be represented in the 4×400-meter relay by sophomore Tiffany Grant and freshman Kayla McKeirnan, Amanda Montgomery and Njoku.
Results and information are available at the Seminoles website.
– RamblinWreck.com –
