June 3, 2008

2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship Schedule

Men's National Performance Lists

Women's National Performance Lists

Cullowhee, N.C. - Six Western Carolina student-athletes - the most in school history for one championship - have qualified for next week's NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship to be held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

The NCAA National Championship is scheduled for June 11-14 and will be hosted by Drake University. Overall event winners will be declared national champions, with the top eight finishers - plus the top eight Americans in the individual events only - garnering All-American status.

Leading the way are WCU's three automatic qualifiers in senior Raquel Ramseur, junior Manteo Mitchell - both in their respective 400-meter dash events - and the Catamount men's 4x100-meter relay team, which finished third in the highly competitive NCAA East Region.

Ramseur is ranked 20th in the nation with a time of 53.08 after finishing fifth at the regional in Tallahassee, Fla. Mitchell, who ran third in the men's East region finals, stands 21st overall in the nation with a time of 46.25, while Johnson, who finished sixth in the 200-meter dash, ranks 26th in the nation with a time of 20.78.

WCU's men's 4x100-meter relay team consists of Johnson, Mitchell, and sophomores Christian Bethune and Dominique Young. The foursome enter the national championship seeded 12th in the NCAA with a time of 39.59, less than a second off the national leader, LSU (38.67). The group set a WCU school record twice while at the regional meet, breaking the record in the preliminary round before passing the baton quicker in the finals.

Also making his first-ever appearance in the National Championship event is sophomore Matt Evans in the high jump. The Old Fort, N.C., native finished tied for 10th with seven others at the East Regional after clearing a height of 6-9. By finishing inside the top 12, he kept his chances of an at-large bid alive, receiving the nod today. Evans is ranked 21st in the nation with a best jump of 2.15 meters.

Just missing the final cut was Western's women's 4x100-meter relay team which finished eighth in the East Region. Ranked 20th overall nationally, the squad just missed out on making the field as the selection committee took the top 19 teams to fill the field for the national meet.

Competition begins on Wednesday, June 11. Click HERE for a full schedule of events.

WCU's NCAA National Championship Qualifiers:
Raquel Ramseur, Sr. - 400-meter Dash
Zeb Johnson, Sr. - 200-meter Dash, 4x100-meter Relay
Manteo Mitchell, Jr. - 400-meter Dash, 4x100-meter Relay
Christian Bethune, So. - 4x100-meter Relay
Matt Evans, So. - High Jump
Dominique Young, So. - 4x100-meter Relay