NCAA Track and Field Regional Preview - BIG TEN CONFERENCE Official Athletic Site

NCAA Track and Field Regional Preview

May 28, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

The 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Regional competitions are set to begin on Friday, May 29, at four campus sites across the country. Penn State will compete in the East Regional, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin will travel to the Mideast Regional, and Iowa and Minnesota will compete at the Midwest Regional.

East Regional:
Penn State is the Big Ten’s lone representative in the East Region in Greensboro, N.C., hosted by North Carolina A&T State University. The Nittany Lion women captured their second consecutive Big Ten title this season, the only two first-place trophies in program history. The PSU women placed a conference-best eight student-athletes on the All-Big Ten first team and second teams (Aleesha Barber, Caitlin Defusco, Fawn Dorr, Bridget Franek, Shavon Greaves, Gayle Hunter, Karlee McQuillen and Emma Schmelzer). Franek owns the regional’s top time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by nearly 22 seconds and ranks No. 2 on the 5,000-meter list. Javelin thrower Kim Hanslovan holds the East’s top performance with a heave of 54.35 meters, teammate McQuillen sits third on that list.

The Nittany Lion men house six student-athletes who rank among the top 10 in their respective event. Fronting the group is senior triple jumper Clarence Smith (No. 3) and senior javelin thrower Tanner Evak (No. 4).

Mideast Regional:
Seven Big Ten teams will compete in the Mideast Regional in Norman, Okla., hosted by the University of Oklahoma. On the women’s side, the Big Ten holds top 10 marks in nearly every single event, including 17 top-three marks. Indiana’s Molly Beckwith and Michigan’s Geena Gall, the 2009 Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year, rank No. 2 and 3, respectively in the 800-meter run as Gall is the defending national champion. Illinois’ Angela Bizzarri owns the top time in the 5,000 meters by nearly 15 seconds and sits third on the 1,500-meter list, right behind Gall at the No. 2 spot. Teammate Desera Brown ranks No. 1 in the 400-meter hurdles with a sizzling time of 57.31. Michigan State’s Nicole Bush claimed the nation’s top time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase earlier this year, crossing the finish line at 9:39.38, over 35 seconds better than her next closest competitor in the Mideast Regional. Michigan’s Tiffany Ofili sits No. 1 in two events, the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump. Ofili is a two-time NCAA outdoor hurdles champion, winning the event the previous two seasons. Boilermaker Kara Patterson holds down the No. 1 spot in the javelin competition as she did last season.

On the men’s side, Illinois will look to No. 1 ranked 110-meter hurdler Andrew Riley and Gakologelwang Masheto (No. 8 in 400m.) to advance to the NCAA Championships. Purdue’s Josh Hembrough sits No. 3 in the high-hurdles race, hoping to best Riley as he did in the conference meet. Hembrough’s teammate Eric Sparks owns the regional’s second-best pole vault mark with a clearance of 5.35m. Indiana’s Derek Drouin, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has jumped the competitions second-best mark, hitting 2.19m. Michigan has its hopes in senior sprinter Adam Harris as he looks to double up in the 100 and 200 meters. Wolverine Carl Buchanon looks to advance in the 400-meter hurdles as he holds the Mideast’s third-best mark at 50.84. Distance events will be heavily participated in by Wisconsin student-athletes as Jack Bolas, Ryan Gasper, Craig Miller and Christian Wagner all rank among the top 10 in their respective events.

Midwest Regional:
Iowa and Minnesota will represent the Big Ten at the Midwest Regional, hosted by the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. Minnesota will field a talented group of individuals including Heather Dorniden who sits No. 2 in the 800 meters and No. 10 in the 1,500 meters. Gopher Amy Laskowske also ranks No. 2 in her specialty of 10,000 meters while co-Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships Alicia Rue owns the second-best pole vault mark at 4.35m. Minnesota’s Liz Roehrig is already heading the the NCAA meet in the heptathlon but looks to also qualify in the high jump as she owns the fifth-best clearance. Iowa’s hopes are on triple jumper Renee White (No. 3) and 100-meter hurdler Karessa Farley (No. 6).

On the men’s side, four of the top eight shot putters come from the Big Ten as Minnesota’s Aaron Studt ranks No. 2. Following Studt is the Iowa duo of John Hickey (4th) and A.J. Curtis (7th) with Gopher Tyler Kleinhuizen in the No. 8 spot. Minnesota distance specialist Hassan Mead, the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year, holds the top 5,000-meter time at 13:28.45. Teammate Matt Fisher looks to win the high jump competition as he has cleared the best mark at 2.25m.

Student-athletes qualified for regional competition by reaching standards established for each event or by earning automatic access as the conference event champion. The 10,000-meter run, decathlon and heptathlon are the only events in which qualifying is based on competition outside the regional championships.

The regional format is set up so the top five individuals and top three relay teams form each of the four sites will automatically qualify for the 2009 NCAA Championships, set to take place June 10-13 at the John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. The University of Arkansas will host this year’s NCAA Championships.