May 23, 2007
ATLANTA – Eighteenth-ranked Georgia Tech women’s track and field will be heading to Gainesville, Fla. this Fri. and Sat., May 25-26 for the NCAA East Regional. Thirteen Yellow Jackets will be competing in 12 events at the Percy Beard track on the University of Florida campus.
“We’re looking forward to the NCAA East Regional this weekend,” said women’s head coach Alan Drosky. “Several of our student-athletes have positioned themselves well throughout the season to advance to the NCAA Championships at Sacramento in June and we just have to go to Florida and take care of business.
“As a program, and individually as student-athletes, we have national level goals,” added Drosky. The road to Sacramento goes through Gainesville this weekend.”
All-American senior Ashlee Kidd headlines the group of Jackets that have qualified for the championship meet. Kidd will run the 400-meter dash, which she is currently seeded second in the region with a best time of 51.54, at the meet but has qualified for four individual races and as a member of the 4×100- and 4×400-meter relay team.
Junior Shantia Moss, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, will be looking to earn a spot in the National outdoor meet in the 100-meter hurdles. Senior Fatmata Fofanah, who has run a career-best time of 13.16 in the hurdles, will be right with Moss. The two hurdlers have the second and third best times respectively in the east region this season.
Sophomore Jacqua Williams will run both the 100- and 200-meter dash at the meet. The standout basketball player has steadily improved on her times all outdoor season. Junior Shantrell Moss has also qualified for the 200m.
Senior Jenny Sims will be competing in the 800-meter run after qualifying for the Regional at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Junior Elena Linn will be lining up in the 5000-meter run and the steeplechase at the championship meet. Linn has the seventh-best time in the east region this season.
In the field events, the Jackets will be represented by Kimery Hern, the Georgia Tech record holder in the hammer throw. Hern set the new school-best mark of 195 feet, 5 inches at the Atlantic Coast Championships, where she placed second to earn All-ACC honors. Her best throw ranks fifth amongst hammer throwers in the east region this season. Hern has also qualified for the discus.
Freshman Samantha Musil will be competing in both the discus and shot put. Musil has had team-leading marks in both events, tossing the discus 162 feet, 5 inches and the shot put 47 feet, 8 ½ inches. Sophomore Mellany Stanislaus will compete in the triple jump, where she has a season-best mark of 40 feet, 11 ¾ inches.
The top-five athletes in each event will automatically qualify for Nationals held June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif. The remaining positions will go to at-large athletes with the best times this season.
Live results for the NCAA East Regional will be available at www.gatorzone.com.
