NC State
ACC Outdoor Championships
Pack Sprinters Advance; Mercer Wins All-ACC
4/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track
April 22, 2011
Complete Day 1 & 2 Results 
|Day 3 Start Times
ACC Championship site | Live results
Saturday's television coverage
DURHAM, N.C. – NC State sophomore sprinters Ben Major and T.J. Graham both advanced to Saturday’s finals of the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at the 2011 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with strong performances Friday in the preliminary heats at Duke’s rain-soaked Wallace Wade Stadium.
Freshman Erin Mercer won All-ACC honors by finishing third in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, as the Wolfpack women moved into fifth place in the overall women’s team standings with 24 points after two days of competition.
The men are also in fifth place with 29 points.
Graham, returning to the track after a month-long hiatus to go through spring drills with the Wolfpack football team, won both heats in his two preliminary events, posting a time of 10.58 seconds in the 100 and 21.56 seconds in the 200. Graham’s times were the third best of the eight qualifiers in the 100 and the seventh best of the eight qualifiers in the 200.
Major won his heat in the 200 in a time of 21.49 seconds. He also advanced to Saturday’s finals with a time of 10.75 seconds in the 100. His 200 time was the fifth-best posted on the day, while his 100 time was the eighth-best.
Others who performed well for the men’s team include junior Daniel Fretz, who posted a 48.69-second time in the preliminaries of the 400 meters to advance to Saturday’s finals, and senior Lamont Savage, who was fourth in the long jump with a leap of 24-feet, 3 ¾-inches.
In addition to Mercer’s finish in the steeple chase, junior Lawanda Henry put points on the board for the Wolfpack women by finishing fifth in the shot put with a toss of 49-feet, 9 ¾-inches. Freshman Lillian Greibesland advanced to Saturday’s finals in the 1,500-meters run with a season-best time of 4:26.57. Sophomore Karimah Shepherd was eighth in the long jump with her second best leap of the season at 18-feet, 10 ¾-inches.
Saturday’s final day begins at 10 a.m., as the Wolfpack men and women look to add points in both the hammer throw, the triple jump and the women's high jump, the only event that had to be postponed Friday because of inclement weather.
Along with the finals of the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, the Wolfpack men hope for a strong showing in the 4 X 100-meter relay, with a lineup that includes Graham, Major, senior A’Tolani Akinkuotu and junior Tobias Palmer, another football player who joined the squad when spring drills ended.
The Pack could also finish strong in the 5,000-meter race, with redshirt freshman Andrew Colley and sophomore Ryan Hill leading the way. Colley was a two-time All-ACC winner in the indoor season, while Hill won the 10,000-meter race for the second consecutive year Thursday night and looks to become a two-time outdoor champion, just as he was in the indoor season.
For complete coverage of the 2011 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, visit http://www.theacc.com/championships/11-otf-championship.html.
