June 13, 2008

Clemson's Padgett Finishes 10th in 200m Dash at NCAA Outdoor Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Travis Padgett competed in the 200m dash Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, finishing 10th in the event after the semifinals. Matt Clark is also scheduled to compete for Clemson on Thursday, but it will be the last event late in the evening.

Padgett ran a 20.86 to win his heat, advancing to the semifinal round for the first time in his career in the 200m dash. However, he did not make the finals after coming up just short in the second semifinal. He had a time of 20.77, just two spots and five hundredths of a second short of qualifying for Saturday's final.

Clemson's Hardy Concludes Career in Prelims at NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Meet

DES MOINES, Iowa - Polly Hardy concluded her Clemson career Thursday in the prelims of the 100m hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The senior from Anderson, SC recorded the 19th-best time in the preliminary round with a time of 13.59, finishing one spot shy of advancing into the semifinals in her heat.

Hardy wraps up a solid four years with the Lady Tiger track & field program. She was All-East Region as a senior after finishing sixth two weeks ago in Tallahassee, FL. Hardy also was a scorer for the Lady Tigers with a fifth-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championships in April. She will finish ranked in a tie for second place in Clemson history on the all-time 100m hurdles performance list.

Makusha Earns FSU's First Individual Title At NCAA Track & Field Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Freshman Ngoni Makusha earned Florida State's first individual crown of the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a monstrous 8.30m/27'03.25" leap in the long jump finals--the fourth-best jump in the world this year, the best in FSU history and the best Drake Stadium has ever seen.

Fellow rookie Gonzalo Barroilhet also scored to put the No. 2 Seminole men on the board in day two of competition in Des Moines, Iowa.

"Not only is Ngoni winning huge, but it gives us a big boost," said head coach Bob Braman. "A lifetime best from Gonzalo was just phenomenal; 7907 is just ridiculous and wins most years, he just ran into a buzz saw in (Ashton) Easton. I'm very proud of them."

Yellow Jackets Compete on Day Two of NCAA Championships

DES MOINES, Iowa - Senior Shantia Moss qualified for the women's 100-meter hurdles semifinals to lead Georgia Tech on the second day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium.

Moss crossed the line with a personal-best time of 12.96 to earn a spot in Friday's 100-meter hurdles semifinal which is scheduled to begin at 7:55 p.m. CT. Moss is only the second Yellow Jacket to run a time under 13.00 in the 100m hurdles in Georgia Tech history.

Sophomore Steve Marcelle placed 16th in the men's shot put prelims after finishing with a best mark of 57 feet, 10 ½ inches. Junior Andy Powlen competed in the event but did not register a mark.

Maryland's Berger Fourth in Heat at NCAA Track

DES MOINES, Iowa - University of Maryland senior Dominic Berger placed fourth in his heat of the men's 100-meter hurdles Thursday at the 2008 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships being hosted by Drake University.

His placing in the heat and his time of 13.97 in the preliminary rounds were not enough to have Berger advance to Friday's semifinal in the event. The top three finishers in each of four heats and the next best four times advanced to the semifinals.

Berger ran in the third heat and finished 0.14 seconds behind Myles Bradley of Stanford. Ryan Fontenot of LSU and Ronnie Ash of Bethune-Cookman, the lone freshman competing in the hurdles, finished first and second in the same time of 13.64.

Berger's time of 13.97 was 19th overall in the 26-man field. The final student-athlete to qualify on time only was Ramon Sosa, who was 16th overall and fourth in his heat at 13.79.

Miami's Harris Sees Championship Bid Come to an End

DES MOINES, Iowa - The University of Miami's Tim Harris was unable to qualify for the National Championship Final in the 800-meters after his sixth-place finish in his 800-meter semi-final heat at Drake University's Drake Stadium.

The senior out of Miami's Booker T. Washington High School, ran a time of 1:48.85 in his last collegiate 800-meter race.

Harris became a four-time All-American as a member of the Hurricanes with his best Outdoor National Championship finish of seventh-place coming in 2006. Earlier this year, Harris finished fourth at the Indoor National Championships.

Miami's Brown and Jameson Reach 400-Meter Hurdle Finals

DES MOINES, Iowa - The No. 14 ranked University of Miami women's track and field team saw two freshmen advance to the 400-meter hurdles final, as Takecia Jameson and Ti'erra Brown qualified in today's semi-final round at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National at Drake University's Drake Stadium.

There were two semi-final heats, with the top three finishers plus the next two best times moving on to tomorrow's final at 8:55 p.m. Jameson automatically moved to the next round with a second place finish in her heat with a time of 57.37, her second-best time of the year. Brown finished fifth in her heat at 57.55, but grabbed the second of the two remaining top times.

North Carolina's Felnagle Posts Top Time In 1500 On Day Two Of NCAAs

DES MOINES, Iowa - Junior Brie Felnagle secured her spot in the 1500-meter run final on Thursday as she posted the top time during the prelims on the second day of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Felnagle entered the Championships with the top time in the nation and lived up to the billing as she ran a 4:15.56 to win her heat and claim the top spot in the preliminary round. Joining Felnagle in a final will be LaToya James who finished third in the second round of the 400-meter hurdles to advance to the finals. Action continues in Des Moines on Friday.

Felnagle opened her 2008 NCAA Championships with a solid showing as she clocked the fastest time in her heat of the 1500-meter run to claim a spot in Saturday's final. The Tacoma, Wash. native entered the event with the top time in the country with a mark of 4:08.54 and posted a 4:15.56 on Thursday to punch her ticket for the final. Megan Kaltenbach was also in action on Thursday in the 1500-meter run but was unable to qualify as she finished 14th in her heat in a time of 4:46.02.

Virginia's Jesien Advances to Finals of 1500m at NCAA Championships

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Junior Andrew Jesien raced in the preliminaries of the 1500m run Thursday evening at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa and advanced to the finals after finishing 11th. Jesien crossed the line in seventh of his heat in a personal-best time of 3:43.66 to take 11th overall. This is Jesien's first trip to the NCAA Championships, where the 2008 ACC Champion in the 1500m will compete in Saturday's finals for a national championship. The race is slated to begin at 4:24 p.m. CST.

In the 10,000m finals, senior All-American Emily Harrison led a trio of Virginia runners with a 12th-place finish in 34:48.19, while classmate Katie Read finished 14th with a time of 35:15.47. Kara Scanlin, due to injury, did not finish the race.

Pair of Virginia Tech Shot Putters Advance to NCAA Finals

DES MOINES, Iowa - Justin Clickett and Brittany Pryor both earned spots in the final round of their respective shot put events as the Virginia Tech Track & Field program wrapped up its second day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday in Drake Stadium. Natalie Sherbak earned 16th place in the final of 10,000-meter run.

During the meet's first two days, five athletes from the No. 4 Tech women's team have made it through to Friday and Saturday's finals in four events, while the Hokies' No. 40 men's team will have three athletes competing in the final round of three different events.

Clickett is in fifth place in the men's shot put after today's qualifying round. Clickett took fifth place by 3.25" over the sixth-place competitor.