JACKSONVILLE,
Fla. – For
the second straight year, America East will send eight student-athletes to the
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet at Drake Stadium in
Des Moines, Iowa June 6-9. Two men and six women earned the trip to Iowa thanks
to solid performances at the NCAA East Region meet at the University of North
Florida over the weekend.
Vermont
had a conference-high three participants qualify for the national meet. The
trio of Nika Ouellette, Kirsten Weberg and Morgan Powers all head to Iowa in
two weeks. They are joined by Boston University’s Allison Barwise, Maine’s
Corey Conner and Stony Brook’s Lucy Van Dalen.
On
the men’s side, Boston University’s Rich Peters and Binghamton’s Erik van Ingen
qualified in the 1,500-meter run.
All
three Catamount women earned top-15 seeds at the upcoming national meet with
their performances this weekend. Junior Kirsten Weberg broke the school record
in the steeplechase (10:03.78) and checks in at the No. 8 spot. Senior Morgan
Powers finished second in her heat in the 10,000-meter run to enter the
national meet ranked 12th. Sophomore Nika Ouellette qualified in the
javelin throw for the second straight year posting the 10th best
regional throw of 48.81 meters.
Barwise
captured the regional title in the high jump, clearing 1.81 meters on her first
attempt and will enter the national meet seeded sixth. The Terrier junior took
fifth at the NCAA Championship during the indoor season.
Conner
ranks 17th in the 5,000-meter run after placing second in her heat
in Jacksonville. The Maine senior qualified for NCAA Indoor Championships in
2011.
Van
Dalen became a four-time NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifier in the 1,500-meter
run this weekend after finishing fifth in her heat (4:17.03). This will be Van
Dalen’s seventh trip overall to a national track meet having qualified during
the indoor season three times.
Peters
ran a 3:48.46 in the 1,500 to win his heat and qualify for his second NCAA
Championship this year. He ran to a runner-up finish in the indoor mile back in
March and enters the outdoor meet ranked No. 20.
Van
Ingen qualified for his seventh overall NCAA Championship meet by placing
second in his 1,500 heat with a time of 3:48.37. He finished right behind
Peters and heads into Iowa seeded 21st.
A
total of 36 America East student-athletes competed in individual events at the
East Region meet.