Track And Field's Nicole Ireland Advances In The 400 Hurdles At The NCAA Meet

Senior standout Melinda Smedley forced to pull out of the championships.

Junior Nicole Ireland ran the third-fastest time in the preliminaries of the 400 hurdles.
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June 11, 2003

SACRAMENTO - Aztec junior Nicole Ireland (Las Vegas, Nev.) opened the 2003 NCAA Track and Field Championships by advancing to the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles with a preliminary time of 57.37. Ireland logged the third-fastest time of the day, winning her heat at Cal State Sacramento's Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.

Ireland, whose prelim time was her third fastest of the season, was one of 16 competitors in the 28-hurdler field to qualify for the semifinals, slated for Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. The junior is attempting to earn her third straight All-America honor in the 400 hurdles, after placing 10th in 2002 and 11th her freshman campaign while enrolled at the University of Alabama.

SDSU senior Melinda Smedley (Stockton, Calif.) was slated to compete in the preliminaries of the 100 meters earlier in the day, but has been forced to withdraw from the meet due to injury. The 2003 Mountain West Conference's Outstanding Performance honoree suffered a slight strain of her right hamstring during the preliminaries of the 100 meters at the NCAA regional championships on May 30. She is expected to return for the USA national meet, June 19-21, at Stanford.

Besides Ireland, junior Tonette Dyer (Shreveport, La.) and the team's 4x400-meter relay will also compete Thursday evening in day two of the 2003 NCAA championships.

San Diego State's NCAA Track & Field Championships Schedule/Results

Wed., June 11
Time	Student-Athlete	Event		Result
10:25 a.m.	Melinda Smedley	Prelims - 100 meters		Did not start
7:55 p.m.	Nicole Ireland	Prelims - 400 hurdles		57.37 (Qualified For Semis)

Thurs., June 12
Time	Student-Athlete	Event		Result
10:15 a.m.	Tonette Dyer	Prelims - 200 meters
12:55 p.m.	Tonette Dyer	Prelims - 400 meters
6:00 p.m.	Nicole Ireland	Semis - 400 hurdles
6:30 pm.	Tonette Dyer	Semis - 200 meters
8:15 p.m.	4x400 Relay	Prelims - 4x400 relay

Fri., June 13
Time	Student-Athlete	Event		Result
10 a.m.-3 p.m.	Leslie Miller	Heptathlon - Day One
10 a.m.-3 p.m.	Shanon Meyer	Heptathlon - Day One
7:25 p.m.	Nicole Ireland	Finals - 400 hurdles
8:25 p.m.	Tonette Dyer	Semis - 400 meters

Sat., June 14
Time	Student-Athlete	Event		Result
10 a.m.-2:40 p.m.	Leslie Miller	Heptathlon - Day Two
10 a.m.-2:40 p.m.	Shanon Meyer	Heptathlon - Day Two
7:20 p.m.		Tonette Dyer	Finals - 400 meters
8:00 p.m.		Tonette Dyer	Finals - 200 meters
9:20 p.m.		4x400	Finals - 4x400 relay