Sharonda Johnson begins her second NCAA Outdoor Championship competition on Thursday. |
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Niners Close in Qualifying During Day One of NCAA Championships
June 6, 2007
Sacramento, Calif. - Charlotte had four of its qualified athletes performing in day one of the NCAA Outdoor Championship Meet Wednesday in Sacramento, California on the campus of Sacramento State, which runs through the weekend.
Aja Jackson was first for Charlotte in the 800m dash, finishing with a time of 2:08.68, about two seconds off her school-record qualifying time, placing 20th and out of the next round by a mere 1.45 seconds.
Pat Springs was the final Niner in competition Wednesday, leaping a 6.20m mark (20' 4.25") in the long jump, the first women for Charlotte competing at the Championships in that event. She was 0.25 inches from the next round, finishing 13th at the meet.
"Aja and Pat had a good meet," said Niners head coach Bob Olesen.
"Aja was ranked 25th and finished 20th and Pat came in 21st and finished 13th so they really did quite well in that sense especially since this was they're first open events at NCAA's. As sophomores they have picked up some valuable experience for return trips in the coming years."
"The long jump was a real nail biter and then heartbreaker for us as Pat was tied for 11th going into the last round and they take the top 12 to advance to the finals on a 2nd day of competition," added Olesen.
"The jumper she was tied with broke the tie by 1 centimeter on her last jump moving Pat to 12th and then the final jumper of the competition from Cornell after all 80 some jumps of the day from the total field managed to put a big jump together and knock Pat to 13th. So she was knocked out at the very last possible moment by the smallest margin in a field event."
In the men's 100m dash, Jason Moore turned in a 10.51-second time in his heat, putting him 23rd in the first qualifying round, off the mark by 0.12 seconds. His qualifying time was a stout 10.26 seconds at the league championships.
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Charlotte had Courtney Patterson running in the 100m dash on the women's side, turning in a 11.81-second time in that event. Patterson had qualified with an 11.55-second time at Florida in May. She finished 29th in the Championship.
Thursday, Charlotte win send one of its final two participants to the track, when senior Shareese Woods will attempt to qualify for future participation in the 200m event. Sharonda Johnson will start triple jump qualifying on Friday.
