NC State
NCAA East Preliminary Round
NC State Set For NCAA East Preliminary
5/23/2018 11:41:00 AM | Track
Live Results | Live Streaming ($) | Meet Central
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State track and field team will continue its postseason as it begins NCAA competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Round on Thursday. The event will be hosted by the University of South Florida at the USF Track & Field Stadium in Tampa, Fla. and will run May 24-26.
The meet acts as a gateway to the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships, which will be held at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field June 6-9. At this weekend's preliminary meet, 48 competitors in each individual event and 24 teams in each relay event will be in action, with the top 12 finishers in each of those events advancing to the NCAA Championships.
Extensive video coverage will be provided for the NCAA preliminary championship event. Competition will be streamed by FloSports at www.FloTrack.com for fans who sign up for a monthly FloTrack subscription.
The Wolfpack will be represented by 18 individuals and one relay team.
DISTANCE:
Three of the NC State women's distance runners own marks that stand in the top 10 of the region in the 5,000m. Erika Kemp, a senior who is already an All-American in the 5,000m, is seeded fourth in the event with her 15:43.28 season-best from the Mt. SAC Relays. Elly Henes (15:49.51) enters the regional meet with the six seed coming off of a gold medal at the ACC Outdoor Championships, and Dominique Clairmonte (15:55.73) is the eight seed in her first NCAA East Preliminary appearance. Ryen Frazier will join them to round out the 5,000m for the Wolfpack women.
Joe Bistritz and Patrick Sheehan will also make their first appearances at the regional, competing on the men's side of the 5,000m. Bistritz and Sheehan clocked their qualifying marks at the Virginia Challenge, both of which were new PRs.
Elijah Moskowitz qualified for competition in the 10,000m for the second season in a row. His 29:23.09 mark from the Raleigh Relays was the best of his season and his career. Moskowitz most recently ran the event at the ACC Outdoor Championships, where he placed fourth to earn Second Team All-ACC honors.
Gavin Gaynor will look to continue his success in the 3,000m steeplechase. He clocked his 8:57.99 time at the historic Penn Relays, where he placed third in a competitive field.
SPRINTS:
NC State brings a seasoned group of sprinters to the meet, as all three individual competitors have seen action at the NCAA East Preliminary at least once in their careers.
Gabriele Cunningham is the only member of the Wolfpack to compete in two individual events, as she is set to run the 100m and the 200m. Her marks in both events stand in the top 20 of the region, and she comes off of a silver-medal performance in the 200m at the ACC Outdoor Championships. Cunningham has reached the NCAA East Preliminary quarterfinal round in each event during her career and is the school record holder for both the 100m and the 200m.
Cravont Charleston will run the 100m for the Wolfpack men. He enters the meet with a wind-legal 10.21 mark, which is the best time of his sophomore season and the best time of his NC State career. Charleston most recently placed second in the 100m at ACC Outdoors, and he made an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals in the event to end his 2017 season.
Senior Shannon Patterson will make his return to the NCAA East Preliminary, a meet in which he last competed at the end of the 2016 outdoor season. Patterson will represent the Pack in the 200m. He also ran a season and personal best of 20.85 at the ACC Outdoor Championships on the way to taking silver.
The men's 4x100m relay team also qualified for the meet. The relay squad won the ACC title in the event earlier this month, marking the third-straight year that NC State has taken home gold in the relay. The Wolfpack's best mark of the season is a 39.38, which ranks 10th in the region.
MID-DISTANCE:
Megan Rempel qualified to compete in the 1,500m, having made one previous NCAA East Preliminary appearance in 2015. She will be joined by Anna Vess, who will make her regional debut.
Also competing at the meet for the first time is Philip Hall, who will run the 1,500m for the Wolfpack men.
JUMPS:
Michelle Cobb will continue her successful freshman season in the triple jump. After a career performance at the ACC Outdoor Championships, Cobb enters the NCAA East Preliminary with a 41' 3.75" (12.59m) mark as her best jump of the season.
THROWS:
Three Wolfpack throwers will be in action this weekend to round off NC State's list of competitors.
Joshua Davis is set to kick off action for the Wolfpack in the hammer throw, an event in which he is the school's outdoor record holder, Thursday morning.
Lauren Evans will compete in the shot put Thursday evening. Evans owns the No. 17 shot put mark in the east region with her 52' 6" (16.00m) throw from the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Tyson Fortenberry will also make an appearance at the NCAA East Preliminary in his first season with the Wolfpack, competing in the discus throw.
THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE:
8:45 AM: Men's Hammer Throw (Davis F1)
1:30 PM: Men's 1,500m First Round (Hall H4)
2:00 PM: Women's 1,500m First Round (Rempel H1, Vess H1)
2:30 PM: Men's 100m First Round (Charleston H2)
2:55 PM: Men's 100m First Round (G. Cunningham H3)
5:30 PM: Women's Shot Put (Evans F3)
9:00 PM: Men's 10,000m (Moskowitz)
