 |
Butler Sends Four Athletes To NCAA Track Championship
June 8, 2004 Butler University will be well-represented when the 2004 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship commences at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday, June 9. Four Butler athletes will be competing in the national meet, which concludes on the University of Texas campus on Saturday, June 12.
Entered in this year's national meet are senior Gary Blackman (West Midlands, England) and juniors Thomas Frazer (Belfast, Ireland), Olly Laws (Wenlock, England) and Victoria Mitchell (Mansfield, Australia). The four represent the largest contingent of Butler athletes ever to compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.
Mitchell will be the first Butler athlete to see action at the national championship. She will race in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase preliminaries on Wednesday at 8:35 p.m. (CDT). Mitchell, who was named the Outstanding Performer for Running Events at the 2004 Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championship, earned an automatic bid to the national meet by placing runner-up in the steeplechase at the NCAA Mideast Regional. Her time of 10:13.31 is seeded 11th. Blackman will compete in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase immediately following the women's race. He received an at-large bid to the national championship by posting a time of 8:48.03 in the steeplechase at the Cardinal Invitational in late March. It's the third-fastest steeplechase time ever recorded by a Butler runner. Frazer will run in the 5,000 meter preliminaries on Wednesday at 10:05 p.m. He earned an automatic bid to the national meet by placing runner-up in the 5,000 meter run at the NCAA Mideast Regional. His best time in the 5,000 this spring was 14:02.23 at the Stanford Invitational. Laws will be the last Butler athlete to see action, competing in the 10,000 meter finals on Thursday, June 10, at 10:05 p.m. He earned a trip to Texas by posting a qualifying time of 29:12.99 at the Stanford Invitational. Laws won the 2003 Horizon League men's cross country individual championship, and he was named the 2003 Horizon League Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Year. Butler joins Stanford as the only schools to have individuals entered in the three men's distance races - the 3,000 meter steeplechase, the 5,000 meter run and the 10,000 meter run. The steeplechase finals are scheduled for Friday, June 11, while the 5,000 meter finals will be on Saturday, June 12. |
