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 Western will await word on at large invitations to the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento, Calif. |
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May 27, 2007
NCAA East Regional Final Results
Gainesville, Fla. - On the final day of competition at the 2007 NCAA East Regional, the Western Carolina men's 4x100-meter relay team advanced one spot from where it qualified during Friday's preliminary to finish fifth while the 4x400-meter relay squad placed eighth at the James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track.
The team of sophomores Manteo Mitchell and Kevin Johnson, junior Zeb Johnson and freshman Dominique Young advanced to the finals after running sixth with a time of 40.10 -- which broke the previous school record -- on Friday. On Saturday, the foursome again topped its own school benchmark by running 39.87 to finish fifth overall. With the top three automatically qualifying for the national championship, WCU will have to await word on an at-large bid to nationals, but should have one of the top 20 times in the nation.
Mitchell and Zeb Johnson, as well as seniors James Gregory and Mike Malone finished eighth out of three sections of the men's 4x400-meter relay. WCU clocked a time of 3:09.71, just over a second slower than their qualifying time which had ranked the group fifth in the region entering the event.
Rounding out Western's competitors at the regional was freshman Matt Evans in the men's high jump. The Old Fort, N.C., native came into the meet with a starting height of 2.06 meters, but was unable to post a height at the weekend competition.
"This weekend was a great learning experience for a lot of our younger student-athletes," said head coach Danny Williamson. "I feel we were a little overwhelmed at the caliber of competition across the field, but this experience will pay off for us in the future."
Although WCU did not have student-athletes automatically qualify for the NCAA National Championship in Sacramento, Calif., several sprinters have put themselves in a strong position based upon performance to move on with an at-large bid. The 4x100-meter relay squad and Mitchell in the 400-meter dash, who finished 11th with a time of 47.06, have a shot at an invitation.
The final descending order lists from the regional meets will be posted on Monday, May 28, with those accepted into the national meet announced on May 30. Official start lists for the competition, which is slated for June 6-9, will be posted on Monday, June 4.
Western Carolina Saturday Results from NCAA East Regional:4x100-meter Relay: 5 Western Carolina 39.87 4 1) Manteo Mitchell SO 2) Zeb Johnson JR 3) Dominique Young FR 4) Kevin Johnson SO
4x400-meter Relay: 8 Western Carolina 3:09.71 3 1 1) Manteo Mitchell SO 2) James Gregory SR 3) Mike Malone SR 4) Zeb Johnson JR
