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Lobos Visit Nebraska For NCAA Midwest Regional Championships
National championship berths at stake for 11 individuals and both men's relay teams.
May 30, 2003 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Thirteen University of New Mexico track and field athletes will compete for a berth in the NCAA national championship field when they travel to Lincoln, Neb. this weekend for the inaugural Midwest Regional Championship meet. The top-five finishers in each individual event and top-three relay teams will advance to Sacramento, Calif. two weeks later for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The action at the University of Nebraska's Ed Weir Track Stadium gets underway Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. (CDT) with the field events. Action on the oval begins with preliminaries at 2 p.m. Friday and the finals will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Midwest region is made up of 39 men's teams and 40 women's teams from the states of Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. The Midwest and West regions have the lowest number of athletes declared for the regional championships. The West Regional has 803 and the Midwest has 867 athletes. In comparison, the Mideast has 1,104 and the East has 1,219. The Midwest region has almost 30 percent less athletes than the East regional. With a smaller number of competitors, the odds are in the favor of the athlete to make the NCAA Championship cut. The host Cornhuskers will have an even bigger advantage, holding the highest number of men and women declared for the Midwest region. Nebraska has 25 women entered in the meet and 31 men. In the women's field, Texas and Minnesota are behind the Huskers with 16 athletes each. Houston and Kansas are tied at fourth with 15 and Baylor and Texas A&M are tied at No. 6 with 14 athletes each. On the men's side, Texas A&M is the closest to NU with 26 entries. Minnesota is third with 24 and Texas is fourth with 21. MEET INFORMATION/RESULTS Complete information and results from the 2003 NCAA Midwest Regional Championships can be found on the official website of the University of Nebraska athletic department: www.huskers.com WHO'S IN? Seventeen New Mexico athletes, including members of both the men's 4x400m and 4x100m relay teams, have qualified for the Midwest Regional meet. UNM had athletes in four different women's events and 12 men's events earn qualifying marks during the season. Unfortunately, only 13 athletes will compete in Lincoln. Sophomore Bridgid Isworth (foot), junior Branden Bennett (achilles) and sophomore Matt Keeran (elbow) are all out with injuries, while sophomore Hank Baskett will remain in Albuquerque to prepare for the upcoming football season. Of the remaining athletes, senior David Lloyd and sophomore Amanda Barnes are the highest ranked Lobos. Lloyd is No. 10 in the 400-meter hurdles with a entry time of 51.57, recorded during the MWC Championships on May 17 in Albuquerque. Meanwhile, Barnes is also ranked 10th in the shot put with her winning throw of 48-06.25 on May 17 at the conference championships. Sophomore Matt Gonzales finished the regular season ranked fourth in the 5,000 meters, but will not compete in the event this weekend. Already an automatic national championship qualifier in the 10,000, Gonzales will only run the 1,500, where he is ranked 22nd, at the regional meet. NCAA Midwest Regional Qualifiers (17) Fr. Chris Ashcraft Pole Vault * 16-04.75 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 16) Jr. Jason Barkermeyer Discus * 169-06.00 * UTEP Twilight - El Paso, Texas (May 3) Shot Put * 55-04.25 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) So. Amanda Barnes Shot Put * 48-06.25 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) So. Hank Baskett High Jump * 6-09.50 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) Jr. Branden Bennett Pole Vault * 16-04.75 * Texas Relays - Austin, Texas (April 5) So. Matt Gonzales 1,500m * 3:48.63 * LSU Alumni Gold - Baton Rouge, La. (April 12) 5,000m * 13:48.35 * Mt. SAC Relays - Walnut, Calif. (April 17) So. Veronica Gonzales Javelin * 141-01.00 * UTEP Twilight - El Paso, Texas (May 3) So. Bridgid Isworth Pole Vault * 12-11.75 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 16) Jr. Erin Johnson High Jump * 5-07.00 * UTEP Twilight - El Paso, Texas (May 3) So. Matt Keeran Javelin * 206-09.00 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) Sr. David Lloyd 400m Hurdles * 51.57 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) 100m * 10.46 * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) So. Nick Martinez 5,000m * 14:23.55 * Stanford Invitational - Stanford, Calif. (March 28) Jr. Jimmy Minner Javelin * 204-00.00 * UTEP Twilight - El Paso, Texas (May 3) Jr. Ahmed Raji 200m * 20.95* * MWC Championships - Albuquerque, N.M. (May 17) Men's 4x100m Relay Team (Jr. Chris Garofola, Sr. David Lloyd, Fr. RaShawn Jackson, Jr. Ahmed Raji) 3:10.63 * LSU Alumni Gold - Baton Rouge, La. (April 12) Men's 4x400m Relay Team (Sr. David Lloyd, Sr. Nick Lott, Jr. Chris Garofola, Jr. Ahmed Raji) 3:10.63 * LSU Alumni Gold - Baton Rouge, La. (April 12) NCAA Automatic Qualifiers So. Matt Gonzales 10,000m * 28:38.64 * Stanford Invitational - Stanford, Calif. (March 28) NCAA Provisional Qualifiers Sr. Keren Sari-Bentzur Heptathlon * 5,236 pts. * Mt. SAC Relays - Azusa, Calif. (April 16-17) 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 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. LAST TIME (MWC Championships) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The host University of New Mexico women finished seventh (49.5 points), while the men were fourth for the third-straight year (91 points) at the four-day (May 14-17) Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium. Sophomore Amanda Barnes led a strong effort by the Lobos' New Mexican athletes by becoming the first female thrower in program history to capture a conference title. The Carlsbad, N.M. native won the shot put, bettering her school record and NCAA regional qualiyfing mark in the process, with a toss of 48-06.25. Barnes' victory also gave New Mexico a women's champion for a fifth-straight year. While Barnes was the only Lobo to take home a gold medal, 11 other UNM athletes, including members of the men's 4x100 (3rd place) and 4x400-meter (second place) relay teams, earned all-conference honors. On the women's side, sophomore transfer Bridgid Isworth earned all-MWC honors with her second place finish in the pole vault, while senior Keren Sari-Bentzur medaled for the 10th time (indoor/outdoor) in her career by taking second in the long jump. Junior Jason Barkermeyer earned a surprising third place finish in the shot put to earn all-conference honors for the first time in his career, while sophomores Hank Baskett (second - high jump) and Matt Keeren (second - javelin) were honored for the second-straight year. On the track, senior David Lloyd earned all-MWC laurels in the 400-meter hurdles (3rd) and both relays, while junior Ahmed Raji was a two-time medalist in the 200 (second) and 4x100 relay. Sophomore Matt Gonzales was an all-conference honoree in the 5,000 (second), junior Chris Garofola and freshman RaShawn Jackson earned a pair of medals as part of the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams. Over the four days of competition, 14 Great Friends of UNM Track Stadium records were tied or broken, including 10 on the women's side alone. New Mexico also set school records in the women's shot put (Barnes - 48-06.25) and hammer throw (Jamie Fishencord - 157-03.00), and recorded NCAA regional qualifying marks in 12 events. SWIFTER, HIGHER, STRONGER Under the direction of third-year head coach Matt Henry and his staff, the 2003 Lobos have continued to improve their outdoor performances. This season the Lobos have eclipsed the top marks of a year ago in 19 men's and women's events. Seventeen of the 19 marks are also the best in Henry's three-year tenure at New Mexico. The following is a breakdown of the improvement the men and women have made this winter on their top event marks of the 2002 outdoor season: Women (6 events) 5,000m: (17:53.35 ~ 17:51.63, -1.72 sec.), 4x00m Relay: (3:50.59 ~ 3:48.76, -1.83 sec.), Pole Vault: (12-00.00 ~ 12-11.75, +11.75 in.), Shot Put: (46-08.75 ~ 48-06.25, +1 ft., 9.5 in.), Hammer: (no competitors ~ 157-03.00), Javelin: (125-10.00 ~ 141-01.00, +15 ft., 3 in.). Men (13 events)
100m: (10.53 ~ 10.46, -0.07 sec.), 200m: (21.41 ~ 20.95, -0.46
sec.), 400m: (48.62 ~ 48.36, -0.26 sec.), 800m: (1:53.63 ~ 1:53.29,
-0.34 sec.), 1,500m: (3:51.96 ~ 3:48.63, -3.33 sec.), 5,000m:
(14:08.55 ~ 13:48.35, -20.20 sec.), 10,00m: (29:11.67 ~ 28:38.64,
-33.03 sec.), 4x100m Relay: (40.81 ~ 40.67, -0.14 sec.), 4x400m
Relay: (3:12.08 ~ 3:10.63, -1.45 sec.), Pole Vault: (16-00.00 ~
16-04.75, +4.75 in.), Shot Put: (51-10.50 ~ 55-04.25, +3 ft., 5.75
in.). Discus: (164-06.50 ~ 169-06.00, +4 ft., 11.5 in.), Javelin:
(206-06.00 ~ 206-09.00, +3 in.).
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