Six BSU Athletes Prepare For The NCAA Regional Championships
May 23, 2007 | Track & Field
Six members of the Ball State University track and field team have qualified to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships held in Columbia, Mo.
Individual performers that qualified include Amber Williams, Voni Ferguson, Rose Lehe and Terri Abraham. Christina Whitt and Katie Johnson are part of the 4x100 relay team that also includes Williams and Ferguson.
Williams qualified in the 100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, 200-meter dash, and as a member of the 4x100 meter relay team. Williams set two MAC Championship records. She placed first in the 100-meter dash clocking in at 11.54. She also took first place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.32.
Williams originally qualified for the 100-meter hurdles event at the Dave Rankin Invitational when she clocked in at 13.49. Abraham also qualified at the meet with a long jump distance of 19-11.
Williams set a regional qualifying mark in the 200-meter dash at the Stan Lyons Invitational with a time of 23.77, however Williams has decided not to compete in the event at the NCAA Regional Championships.
The 4x100 relay team of Whitt, Williams, Ferguson, and Johnson qualified at the Butler Twilight finishing in 45.44. Ferguson will also compete in the 400-meter dash.
Senior Rose Lehe will compete in the 3000-meter steeplechase event. Lehe won the steeplechase at the MAC Championships finishing in 10:46.87.
With the exception of participants in the 10,000-meter run, decathlon, and heptathlon, the qualifying systems for the NCAA Outdoor Championships is different from the recently completed NCAA Indoor Championships. In order to get to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, each competitor must compete in his/her respective event in the regional championships. A hard-line standard is used in each event to gain entry into the regional. Get the mark, get into the regional. In addition, each conference champion in each event also gains entry into the regional.
At the regional, the top five finishers (that also declare for the national meet) in each event automatically gains entry into the national championships. The national field will also usually have five to eight at-large bids to fill in each event. Those who are at the top of the national descending order list, and who do not automatically qualify will be the first at-large bids into the national championships, provided they finish in the top 12 of their respective event in the regional (and participate and finish a final in which they were entered).
The 10,000-meter run, heptathlon, and decathlon qualifying works similarly as the NCAA Indoor Championship qualifying: A provisional and automatic standard is used for each event. Make the automatic mark, receive automatic entry into the national meet. A provisional mark gives one a possible consideration for an at-large bid.
Players Mentioned
