NC State Set for NCAA East Preliminary

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State track and field team will begin its NCAA journey in Jacksonville, Fla., with the NCAA East Preliminary – hosted by the University pf North Florida and the City of Jacksonville at Hodges Stadium. The top-48 in individual events and the top-24 relay teams will attend the meet to compete for top-12 spots in each event to seal a place in Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA Championships.

The Pack will have representation from each group of events, as it travels 22 athletes with 28 regional qualifying marks for the regional competition. Last year, the team advanced 16 athletes to the regional and eight athletes out of the region to the NCAA Championships. Of the Pack's 22 athletes, 15 are first-time qualifiers for the NCAA East Preliminary.

Full List of NC State's Regional Qualifiers

Entries by Category:
Sprints/Relays: 8
Hurdles: 1
Distance: 12
Jumps: 4
Throws: 3

Sprints:
The men's sprint squad earned six qualifying marks. Led by Quashawn Cunningham and Shannon Patterson, the group will compete in the 100m, 200m, 4x100 and 4x400 races. Cunningham and Patterson have qualified in all four events.

Jonathan Addison and Nyheim Hines will join them in the 4x100 and Brian Davis and Will Krehnbrink will run in the 4x400.

The 4x100 team enters the meet with the eighth-fastest seed of 39.42. The relay team is coming off an impressive meet at the ACC Championships where it won the ACC Championship and ended Florida State's streak of seven-straight 4x100 titles.

Cunningham holds the 23rd 100m seed of 10.33 and 18th 200m seed of 20.67. The sophomore has led the sprinters all year, finding his way to the ACC podium five different times throughout indoor and outdoor season. It is the Charlotte, N.C., native's first regional appearance.

Patterson has also been a key piece in the NC State sprint squad's development and has earned All-ACC honors four times this year and was the third leg on the ACC Championship 4x100 team. He enters the meet as the 30th 100m seed with a time of 10.39 and the 43rd 200m seed of 21.00. Patterson set personal bests in each event at the ACC Championships.

On the women's side, two-time qualifier Paisley Simmons and true freshman Gabriele Cunningham will both run in the 100m dash. Both sprinters earned All-ACC honors during the ACC Championships. Simmons enters as the 31^st seed of 11.50 and Cunningham posted a 11.64 in the event – good for the 48^th seed.

Simmons is a has regional experience, competing in last year's 100m and 200m races.

Hurdles:
Alexis Perry cemented her status as an elite collegiate hurdler at the ACC Championships when she dipped under the 13-second mark, running 12.93 for a silver medal and a USATF Olympic Trials Cut. Last season, Perry advanced out of the regional and eventually finished 14^th overall at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors. Perry is ranked fifth in the region and is one of only five hurdles in the region to run under the 13-second mark this season.

Mid-Distance/Distance:
The men's distance program will send five athletes with eight qualifying marks to compete. Graham Crawford will aim to advance in the 1,500m for the second year in a row. Crawford has run 3:40.69 in the 1,500m this season and is the six seed entering the weekend. The Burlington, N.C., native holds a 3:38.49 personal best in the event and finished as an All-American in the event last season.

Meron Simon will look the advance out of the steeplechase for the second straight year. Last season, Simon advanced to the NCAA Championships in the event from the West region while at Washington. This season, the fifth-year transfer holds a season best of 8:39.26 for the four seed in the region.

Luis Vargas and Sam Parsons are slated to open their NCAA competition with the 10,000m. Vargas and Parsons are both competing in their first NCAA East Preliminary.

Vargas enters the 10,000m as a 14-seed with a mark of 29:16.20. He recently took silver in the event at the ACC Championships, beating out three runners seeded ahead of him in the regional field.

Parsons reaches his first regional as the nine seed in the 10,000m with a mark of 29:11.87 – earned at the Raleigh Relays. The redshirt junior is coming off a sixth-place finish in the event at the ACC Championships.

Crawford, Simon and Vargas will also compete in the 5,000m and will be joined by Sebastian Hanson. Crawford leads the group as the five seed in the competition with a mark of 13:42.55, Vargas is ninth with a time of 13:50.88, Simon is 19^th in 13:58.10 and Hanson enters as the 45^th-seed with a mark of 14:08.14.

On the women's side, three athletes have qualified for four entries. Three-time regional qualifier Megan Moye leads the group with 1,500m and 5,000m qualifications. Alyssa Rudawsky (5,000m) and Rachel Bartolomeo (steeplechase) are making their first regional appearances.

Moye will open with the 1,500m on Thursday. She recently won an ACC title in the event and enters with No. 2 seed of 4:11.91. The mark is also the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season and good for the school record.

Bartoloemo enters her first regional competition as the 41^st-seed in the steeplechase. She earned her mark of 10:28.73 at the Virginia Challenge and recently finished ninth and just one spot from scoring at the ACC Championships.

Rudawsky is the No. 33 seed in the 5,000m with a mark of 16:26.27. She is coming off an All-ACC performance at the ACC Championships where she finished fifth overall in the 5,000m.

Moye, who finished second in the 5,000m at the ACC Championships will also run in the event at the regional championships after she earned the qualifying mark of 16:33.10 – good for the 41^st seed.

Jumps:
NC State will be represented in each jumping event with four qualify jumpers. Jonathan Addison and Alexis Perry headline the Pack's jump squad at the regional. The duo both have USATF Olympic Trials marks in the long jump and hold top-12 seeds.

Addison enters as the sixth seed with a leap of 25'11.00". The Raleigh, N.C., native finished as the national runner up during indoor season and holds a personal best of 26'9.75". He also finished second at the ACC Championships.

Perry holds the five seed in the women's long jump with a mark of 21'6.75", and she recently won bronze in the event at the ACC Championships. Perry is a 2015 indoor All-American in the event.

Javonne Antoine is set for her first regional action as the 47 seed in the triple jump. She holds a personal best of 41'1.75" and earned All-ACC honors in the event at the ACC Championships.

Christopher Garrick will represent the Pack in the high jump as the 29^th seed. The true freshman has cleared 7'0.25" twice this season and is one of 10 ten athletes in the region tied at the height. He recently took bronze in the high jump at the ACC Championships.

Throws:
Hammer throw school record holder Joshua Davis will represent the men's team in the throws. Davis narrowly missed out on a regional mark last season, but has had a breakthrough season, breaking two school records and advancing to NCAA competition for indoor and outdoor seasons. Davis set the school record of 208'11" to earn the regional mark, which is the No. 34 seed in the competition.

On the women's side, Nicole Chavis (discus) and Lauren Evans (shot put) will compete for the Pack. Chavis is the 24 seed and holds a personal best of 170'0" in the event. She is a three-time qualifier in the competition and is aiming to make her first trip to Eugene.

Redshirt freshman Lauren Evans holds a personal best of 49'10.75" in the shot put an enters as the 47 seed in the event. This marks her first NCAA competition.

Thursday's Schedule:
12:00 PM Men's hammer throw (J. Davis)
3:30 PM Men's long jump (Addison)
5:30 PM Women's 1500 (Moye)
6:00 PM Men's 1500 (Crawford)
6:30 PM Women's 100 (G. Cunningham, Simmons)
6:45 PM Women's long jump (Perry)
6:55 PM Men's 100 (Patterson, Q. Cunningham)
9:40 PM Men's 10,000 (Parsons, Vargas)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Addison

Javonne Antoine

Rachel Bartolomeo

Nicole Chavis

Graham Crawford

Gabriele Cunningham

Quashawn Cunningham

Brian Davis

Joshua Davis

Lauren Evans

Christopher Garrick

Sebastian Hanson

Nyheim Hines

Will Krehnbrink

Megan Moye

Sam Parsons

Shannon Patterson

Alexis Perry

Alyssa Rudawsky

Paisley Simmons

Meron Simon

Luis Vargas