North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Track & Field Ready For NCAA Regionals
5/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track
May 26, 2005
The NC State men's and women's outdoor track & field teams depart today for Riverdale, N.Y. to compete in the NCAA East Regional Championships May 27-28 at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island. Weather conditions do not look good for the weekend, as a nor'easter storm continues to blow rain and wind through the northeast seaboard. The Wolfpack has 16 student-athletes that have qualified for the regional championships and will be competing for spots in the NCAA Championships June 8-10 in Sacramento, Calif.
Andy Smith, a senior distance runner from Hudson, Ohio, qualified in the 5,000m, the 1,500m and the 3,000m steeplechase. He will compete in the steeplechase Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The three-time ACC Champion in the steeple won the event last year at regionals and went on to finish second at the NCAA Championships. Smith owns the top steeplechase time in both the conference and the region this year and ranks fourth in the nation with the 8:36.70 that he ran at the Mt. Sac Relays.
Joining Smith in the steeplechase will be John Henderson, a junior middle distance runner from Hendersonville, N.C. Henderson qualified in the steeplechase at the ACC Championships with a time of 9:03.62.
Chris Kollar, a redshirt-freshman middle distance runner from Strongsville, Ohio, qualified in the 1,500m with a 3:46.05 at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational. The owner of the fourth-fastest time this season in the ACC, Kollar is the 10-seed in 1,500m and will be competing at 4:15 p.m. on Friday.
Mitchell Pope, a sophomore thower from Hudson, N.C., qualified in the shot put seven of eight meets this season, with his best mark being 59-1 1/2 at the Raleigh Relays, which makes him the 12-seed at regionals. The shot put is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. on Friday.
Dexter Adams, a freshman jumper from Greensboro, N.C., qualified in the long jump May 13 at Georgia Tech's Reebok Invitational with a mark of 24-2 1/2. Adams will begin competition at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.
Michael Hill, a junior jumper from Marion, N.C., will be competing in the triple jump. It is slated to start at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Wesley Smith, a sophomore distance runner from Hudson, Ohio, qualified in the 5,000m with a time of 14:13.40 at the Raleigh Relays. The men's 5K is the last race of the day on Friday, beginning at 7:50 p.m.
Eric Hoverstad, a senior pole vaulter from Raleigh, N.C., qualified in the pole vault at the Texas Relays. Hoverstad will compete at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
On the women's side, Julia Lucas and Renee Gunning are ranked 1 and 2 in the region for the 5,000m. Lucas, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., also qualified for regionals in the 1,500m and holds the 13th fastest time in the nation for the event, but will only compete in the 5k, which she won the ACC Championship in and owns the third best time in the nation this season (15:53.47 at the Mt. Sac Relays) for.
Gunning a senior from Perkasie, Pa., also regionally qualified in the 1,500m and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 10,000m, but will just compete in the 5k. An All-ACC selection in the 5,000m and the 10,000m, Gunning ranks 7th in the nation with her 5k time of 16:08.35 posted at the Cardinal Invitational. The women's 5k is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Also competing in the 5,000m is Ginger Wheeler, a sophomore from Winston-Salem, N.C., who qualified at the Penn Relays with a time of 16:47.07. Kristina Roth, a sophomore from Celina, Ohio, regionally qualified in the 5k as well, but also qualified in the 3,000m steeplechase with a 16:42.94 at the Raleigh Relays, a time that ranks 12th in the region. Roth will just compete in the steeple, which starts at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Ebony Foster, a junior from Lynchburg, Va., regionally qualified in the 100m hurdles at all four meets that she competed in this season. Her best time was 13.06 at the Reebok Invitational, ranking her 2nd in the region and 7th in the nation. Foster runs the hurdles at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Magin Kebert, a freshman from West Lafayette, Ind., is competing in the 1,500m. Her best time of the season was 4:24.46 at the Duke Invitational, making her the 9-seed in the race, which starts at 4:45 p.m. Saturday.
Kelly Smoke, a senior thrower from Durham, N.C., regionally qualified in the discus throw with a school record-breaking heave of 163-10 at the Penn Relays. She is the 9-seed in the event, which begins at noon on Saturday.
Angelina Blackmon, a freshman from Rock Hill, S.C., regionally qualified in the 800m at the Duke Invitational with a time of 2:09.58. She runs Friday at 4:00 p.m.
The top five finishers in each event advance to the NCAA Championships and the next three are eligible for at-large selections. Complete results from the NCAA East Regional Championships will be available at www.gojaspers.com and www.ncaasports.com.
