Aja Jackson will be the first 49er in competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships |
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Niners Get Schedule, Prepare to Compete at Outdoor National Championships
June 5, 2007
Sacramento, Calif. - The Charlotte 49ers are out West getting ready to compete at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which begin on Wednesday. Several Niners will begin prelimiary competition Wednesday in the four-day event.
The meet program is posted at at this link at NCAASports.com.
In the sprint races, the top three from each heat (seven in each race on the women's side and nine per heat on the men's side) plus the six next best times advance to the semifinals. In the semis, the top four from each plus the best time not already qualified will race in the nine-competitor final.
Aja Jackson finished fifth in Florida to qualify for the championship meet, with a school-record time of 2:06.76 in the 800m dash finals. Jackson will be in the first heat in the 800m event. Jackson will be the first Niner in competition, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, with semifinal rounds holding to Thursday in the early evening at 5:05 p.m.
Jason Moore, by virtue of his 10.26-second time he ran at the Atlantic 10 Championships, received an at-large entry in the men's 100m dash and will race in the first heat. Moore and the rest of the 100m field will start preliminary heats Wednesday at 4:40 p.m. and semifinal runs at 6:40 p.m.
Courtney Patterson grabbed an at-large spot with her 100m time of 11.55 seconds in her preliminary race at the University of Florida two weeks ago. She will compete in heat two of the preliminary races. The 100m women's heats start Wednesday at 5 p.m., with semifinals to run at 6:55 p.m.
Shareese Woods qualified for the 100m and 200m dashes, but will focus only on the 200m event. She was second at the region meet with a school-record time of 23.09 seconds in the 200m. Woods set the previous 200m school record, 23.11 seconds, last year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Woods will run in heat four in the 200m prelims. The 200m prelims start Thursday at 3:50 p.m., with semifinals to race at 5:35 p.m. after the 800m semifinal races.
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In the long and triple jump events, the 28 competitors are put into two flights, but the 12 best marks, plus ties advance to the first rounds of finals. Nine advance from that group for another round of jumps to determine the finish.
Pat Springs became the first Niner woman to qualify for the Outdoor National Championship meet in the long jump, when she tied the school-record, set by Tawanna Norman in 2005, on her first jump at the region meet, leaping 6.28m (20' 7.25") for a fifth place finish. She is one of 10 underclassmen to compete for the National Championship. She is in flight one and will start competition at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
Sharonda Johnson will head to her second outdoor championship with a region fifth-place finish in the triple jump. She posted a season-long 13.06m (42' 10.25") distance in the event and will try for her second All-America award in the event for the outdoor season. Johnson is the first flight in a field of 27 for the triple jump. The triple jump begins Friday afternoon, with women's qualifying to begin at 3:15 p.m.
The long jump women's final is set to begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, while the women's triple jump begins its final on Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m.
In the sprints, finals for the women's 100m are at 6:25 on Friday, while the final of the women's 800m is scheduled for 10:28 on Saturday morning. The 200m women's final runs at 10:58 a.m. Saturday.
Competition runs through Saturday and Charlotte49ers.com will post each result from Sacramento and track the progress of the six-pack of Niners in competition this week.
