June 8, 2007

UTEP's Alex van der Merwe placed 12th in the javelin final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif., Friday.

Van der Merwe, who was 12th last year, had throws of 199-6 (60.81) and 192-2 (58.58). He fouled on his third and final throw. He had the fourth-best throw of 227-0 (69.19) in the qualifying round on Wednesday.

All-American Nelly Tchayem missed qualifying for the final of the triple jump by a half inch. She marked jumps of 41-6 (12.65), 41-10 3/4 (12.77) and 42-10 1/4 (13.06).

With her final jump, Tchayem looked to be into the final, but was passed by April Williams of Toledo (43-3; 13.18) and Patricia Mamona of Clemson (43-0 1/4; 13.11) on their final attempt to push her to 13th place.

Toni Smith of Oklahoma and Brenda Faluade of Miami were the final two jumpers into the final with a mark of 42-10 3/4 (13.07).

Saturday, UTEP will have Erma Gene Evans competing in the javelin final (11 a.m. MST), Elias Koech in the men's 800-meter run (11:19 a.m. MST) and Fatimoh Muhammed in the women's 800 (11:28 a.m. MST). The meet is televised live on CBS.