May 12, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford track and field team will try to add to its group of NCAA qualifiers this weekend as it heads to Clemson, S.C., to participate in the Final Qualifier meet Friday and Saturday.
Right now, seven Bulldog men have qualified for the first round of the NCAA Championships which will be held in Indianapolis, Ind., May 26-28. The top 48 athletes for each event in each region, except for the heptathlon and decathlon, are automatic qualifiers for the first round of competition. The top 24 athletes in the heptathlon and decathlon automatically go to the national meet in Des Moines, Iowa, June 8-12.
As it stands, this is the largest group of student-athletes Samford has had qualify for the national meet in the history of the program.
Blaise Carie qualified for the first round in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with his school-record performance at the Southern Conference Championships three weeks ago. The performance ranks 33rd in the East region. He will not compete this weekend as he has solidified his spot in the first round. He will stay back in Birmingham for graduation.
All three members of Samford's men's pole vault group, who swept the podium at the SoCon Championships, have qualified for the first round. Michael Seaman ranks 11th in the region with his mark of 17-01.00 from the FSU Twilight while Owen Wagoner and Patrick Wells are tied for 37th with a mark of 16-06.75.
Samford men's hammer record-holder Kyle Kirby ranks 27th in the event with his record of 196-00 from the Walt Disney World Invitational.
Brandon Bassett and Thomas Oliver are ranked 28th and 38th, respectively, in the javelin. Last week, Bassett notched a new school record of 212-09 in the event at the FSU Twilight, topping teammate Thomas Oliver's previous school record.
All of Samford's qualifiers, with the exception of Carie, will compete this weekend to try for better marks and solidify their place in the first round.
Hillary Neal and Chenelle Terry are right on the bubble of qualifying for their respective events. Neal is 53rd in the East region in the 800 meters and Terry is 59th in the region in the high jump.
Neal will join Lauren D'Alessio this weekend in the 800 and 1500 meters. Also running this weekend will be Cavan Corcoran and Julie McDonald in the 110- and 100-meter hurdles. Jillian Klassen will take on the 10,000 meters to try to crack the top 48 and qualify for the regional meet along with Corcoran, McDonald, and D'Alessio.
Tyler Kemp will compete in the high jump while Ashley Cope and Laura Bedsole will attempt to qualify in the women's pole vault.
Friday's running events start at 3 p.m. (CT) with the 100-meter hurdles followed by the 110-meter hurdles a half-hour after. The 100-meter dashes are next followed by the seeded 200-meter dashes. The women's seeded 1500 meters start at 6:30 followed by the men's event then the seeded 800 meters, steeplechase, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters will close out the day.
Friday's field events feature the discus, pole vault and long jump. The women's events start at 2 p.m. followed by the men's events at 4 p.m.
Saturday begins with the field events. The javelin and hammer start at 8 a.m. with the men's event followed by the women's event. Shot put, high jump and triple jump will follow at 12 p.m.
The running events start at 12 p.m. with the 4x100-meter relay followed by the Bob Pollock Community Mile Run at 12:20 p.m. The unseeded 800 meters starts at 12:30 followed by the 100- and 110-meter hurdle finals. The 400-meter and 100-meter dash finals are next followed by the 2000-meter steeplechase, the 400-meter hurdle finals and the 200-meter dash finals. The day rounds out with the unseeded 1500 meters and the 4x400-meter relays.
Samford fans can find a full recap and results on www.samfordsports.com upon the completion of each day of events. For more information on the Clemson Final Qualifier, go to www.clemsontigers.com.
