May 30, 2006
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s Brandy Depland, Fatmata Fofanah, Ashlee Kidd, Andriane Lapsley, Jerome Miller, Shantia Moss and Jacqua Williams all qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, June 7-10, in Sacramento, Calif.
Depland, a senior from Katy, Texas, was an at-large qualifier in the women’s triple jump after finishing 10th at the NCAA East Region Championships last weekend. Her season-best outdoor mark of 43 feet, 5 ¾ inches, was good enough to qualify her for the meet, ranking as the 12th best mark this season. Depland earned All-America honors at last year’s outdoor NCAA meet.
Fofanah, a junior from Bronx, N.Y., earned a spot at the national qualifying meet for the second consecutive season with a personal-record time of 13.20 at the NCAA East Region meet last weekend, finishing in sixth place. That time is currently 17th in the nation in the women’s 100-meter high hurdles.
Kidd, a junior from St. Petersburg, Fla., is Tech’s top chance at winning a national title in the women’s 400-meter dash. She finished third at the NCAA East Region meet in the 400 with a personal-best time of 51.58, placing her fourth in the nation. She is a three-time All-American for the Jackets and will also run a leg of the national qualifying 4x100m relay team.
Joining Kidd on the 4x100m relay team is Lapsley. A senior from San Antonio, Texas, Lapsley ranks 19th in the women’s 200-meter dash with a lifetime-best time of 23.23, recorded at the Yellow Jacket Invitational. She posted top-eight finishes at the regional meet in the 100, 200 and 4×100.
Miller, a sophomore from Stafford, Va., tallied a season-best mark of 7 feet, 1 inch, in the men’s high jump at the Georgia Tech Invitational and stands 16th in the NCAA. He earned his spot at the national meet with a fourth-place regional finish (6-11).
Moss will compete in the 100m HH and 4x100m relay for the Yellow Jackets. A sophomore from Tamarac, Fla., Moss finished fourth in the women’s sprint hurdles with a lifetime-best time of 13.12. Her time is the 13th-fastest mark this outdoor NCAA season.
Williams will anchor the women’s 4x100m relay team (Moss, Kidd, Lapsley, Williams) that finished fourth at the NCAA East Region Championships with a time of 44.23. Tech clocked a season-best time of 44.02 to win the prelim heat at the regional meet and ranks 10th in the NCAA.
The top eight finishers from each event will earn All-America honors. Tech’s 4x100m relay team has placed in the top 10 in each of the last two outdoor seasons (9th in 2005; 6th in 2004).
The Jackets finished ninth on the women’s side at the NCAA East Region meet, while the men placed 26th. For complete information on the meet, please go to NCAA Outdoor Championship Central
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