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Lobos Open Competition at Prestigious Mt. SAC Relays Today
New Mexico surging after recording season-best marks in 16 events last weekend.
April 16, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The University of New Mexico track and field team begins the final stretch of the 2003 outdoor season when it takes on some of the nation?s best at the 45th running of the famed Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. this weekend. The competition gets underway today with the invitational multi-event competition, which will be held at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif. New Mexico sophomore Ryan Voge and freshman Dan Feltman will compete in the decathlon, while senior Keren Sari-Bentzur will join the heptathlon field. The rest of the team begins competition on Thursday, April 18 and concludes on Saturday, April 19. All preliminary and final events will be held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. San Antonio Community College. UNM head coach Matt Henry will be looking for strong performances out of his men and women as the squad nears the Mountain West Conference and NCAA Midwest Regional Championship meets. Last year, New Mexico enjoyed a tremendous four days at Mt. SAC, beginning with Sari-Bentzur?s career-best and NCAA qualifying score of 5,371 points in the heptathlon. The Omer, Israel native recorded season-bests in all seven events and finished just 48 points shy of the 12-year-old UNM heptathlon record. Ben Ortega and Matt Gonzales each finished fourth in the 10,000m and 5,000m, respectively, on the first full day of competition. Ortega clocked a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 29:35.00, while Gonzales recorded a career-best time of 14:08.55. Monique Harris scored a victory in the long jump and finished fourth in the invitational triple jump competition, while David Lloyd was second among collegiate competitors with a time of 51.17 in the 400-meter hurdles. MEET INFORMATION/RESULTS Complete information and results from the 45th Mt. SAC Relays can be found on the official website of the Mt. SAC Relays: http://relays.mtsac.edu The results of the Mt. SAC heptathlon and decathlon competition will be available on the official website of the Azusa Pacific University athletic department: http://www.apu.edu/athletics/trackandfield NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING 101 The 2003 outdoor track and field season will be unique as the NCAA will use head-to-head competition for the first time to determine the national championship field. This year, athletes must meet regional qualifying standards during the season to secure a berth in the field of their respective regional championship meets (East, Mideast, Midwest, West). Once at the regional meet, athletes need only to finish in the top-five of their respective events to advance to the national championship meet. However, competitors in the 10,000-meter run, heptathlon and decathlon still must use the old system of meeting provisional or automatic qualifying standards to earn a spot in the national championship field. The following is a quick overview of the NCAA Championship qualifying system: Regional Qualifying: Athletes must meet minimum standards in their respective events, except for the 10,000m and heptathlon/decathlon, during the regular season in order to compete at the NCAA Regional Championship Meets the last weekend of May. National Qualifying: Athletes, except for competitors in the 10,000 and heptathlon/decathlon, must place among the top-five in their respective events at the regional championship meet in order to advance to the national championship meet, June 11-4 in Sacramento, Calif. Provisional Qualifying Standards: Competitors in the 10K and heptathlon/decathlon who meet the provisional qualifying standard during the season are candidates to be selected for the national championship field. Provisional qualifiers are selected using a descending order performance list. The number of athletes selected from the provisional qualifiers list is determined by the number of automatic qualifiers in each event. The total number of athletes in the national championship field of each event is generally 16-18.
Automatic Qualifying Standards: Competitors in the 10K or heptathlon/decathlon who meet the automatic qualifying standard during the season are guaranteed a spot in the national championship field.
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