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 Junior Zeb Johnson is on the men's 4x100-meter relay team that will run on Wednesday afternoon in Sacramento. |
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June 5, 2007
NCAA Track & Field National Championship - Results
NCAA Track & Field National Championship - Men's Heat Sheets
NCAA Track & Field National Championship - Schedule of Events
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina head coach Danny Williamson has returned to California and to the NCAA Track & Field National Championships in Sacramento. This year, he has the most company he has ever had on any previous trip.
Sophomore Manteo Mitchell and the men's 4x100-meter relay team, which consists of Mitchell, classmate Kevin Johnson, junior Zeb Johnson and freshman Dominique Young, all earned bids to the national meet which begins on Wednesday, June 6 and runs through June 9 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State.
"We are really looking forward to getting to Sacramento," said Williamson, who was the Southern Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year this season. "We have set some goals and with the hard work we have put in this season, hopefully we will be able to achieve them."
The meet for Western will opens on Wednesday with the 4x100-meter relay semifinals at 3:20 pm PT (6:30 pm ET), with Mitchell running in the 400-meter dash prelims on the same day at 6:00 pm PT (9:00 pm ET). According to the meet heat sheets released on Monday, the Catamount relay squad will run in lane five of the third heat, while Mitchell will occupy lane seven of the fifth and final heat of the preliminary round.
At the national meet, the 400-meter dash is a three-tiered event consisting of the preliminary first round, semifinals and the finals. The 4x100-meter relay, though, is the more traditional two-round event, with semis and finals to decide the national champion.
"Just getting to the National Championship is not good enough - we want to finish the season at our best, with our best times of the season," Williamson added. "It is a challenge, but we hope to be able to bring an All-American status back from California."
To record the All-American title, Mitchell or the relay squad must finish among the top 8 nationally - or be among the top eight finishing Americans in the event.
Mitchell, along with Zeb Johnson, Kevin Johnson and SoCon Freshman of the Year, Young, finished fifth at the East regional - arguably the toughest region nationally as four of the top five times nationally came from Gainesville - in the 400-meter relay with a time of 39.87. WCU ranks 17th on the declaration lists, just over one full second off the top time in the nation turned by Florida State (38.71).
The Catamounts are paired in the same heat as Florida (39.49), Arkansas (39.77), Middle Tennessee State (39.57), Baylor (39.63) and Tennessee (38.91) on Wednesday.
In the 400-meter dash, Mitchell, a native of Mooresboro, N.C., will run against Elvis Lewis of Villanova (45.82), Justin Oliver from Texas A&M (46.09), Washington's Alex Harcourt (45.87) and Lionel Larry from USC (44.73). The top two from each heat, plus the next best six times, will advance to the semifinal round. From the semis, only the top three plus the next best two times will advance to the final.
Action from the meet on Friday, June 8 will be televised by CSTV from 8:30 pm - 11:30 pm, with the network's parent, CBS, scheduled to broadcast two hours of the National Championship meet from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm on Saturday, June 9.
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