Shareese Woods will run the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the 2006 NCAA Championships |
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School-Record Six 49ers Qualify for 2006 NCAA Track Championships
May 30, 2006
Indianapolis, Ind. - Six Charlotte 49ers women's student-athletes, the most-ever in school history, have qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif. Along with three automatic qualifications, the 49ers had two individuals and one relay team selected from an at-large pool of candidates by the NCAA Track & Field Committee.
Charlotte will boast student-athletes in five different races at the national championship meet.
Nearly four and a half hours of the meet over the final two days will be aired live by television partners CBS and CSTV.
The six student-athletes who will be making the journey to Sacramento are:
• Lamarra Currie (Freshman, Apex, N.C.) - 4x100-meter relay
• Tsehaye Dagnachew (Junior, Jacksonville, N.C.) - 3,000-meter steeplechase
• Cassie Ficken (Senior, Conifer, Colo.) - 5,000-meter run
• Courtney Patterson (Junior, Fayetteville, N.C.) - 100-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay
• Pat Springs (Freshman, Winston-Salem, N.C.) - 4x100-meter relay
• Shareese Woods (Junior, Fort Lee, Va.) - 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay
The 49ers' women's team finished eighth among over 50 teams at last weekend's NCAA East Region Championships, the best-ever finish by a Charlotte team.
"We're thrilled to continue this historic year, with the advancement of a record number of qualifiers plus the first-ever relay qualification to the NCAA Championships," said Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Robert Olesen. "It's gratifying to see all the hard work these student-athletes and coaches have put in pay off with this trip to Sacramento.
"It will really be fun to have a larger group on a national trip, as there will be more for a team dynamic that can really enhance the national championship experience."
The 4x100-meter relay team is the first-ever Charlotte relay in either gender to qualify for the national meet. Both Ficken and Woods will be making their second appearance overall and second consecutive entry at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
CBS will air 2 1/2 hours of live coverage (3:30 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern) on Saturday, June 10, the final day of the four-day collegiate championships. CSTV will broadcast two hours (8-10 p.m. ET) on Friday, June 9, the first time the next-to-last day has been televised live.
CHARLOTTE 49ERS 2006 NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
Shareese Woods (Fort Lee, Va.)
Junior All-American Shareese Woods is a two-time individual qualifier for this year's championships, the first woman ever to accomplish that feat at Charlotte.
For the national meet, she is seeded fourth out of 28 in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 22.70 at least weekend's East Region Championships. She is 13th out of 29 in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.26, also at the Region meet.
"Shareese is having an amazing year, and enters the championship ranked higher in her number one event than any Charlotte track & field athlete in history," comments Olesen. "She'll be very busy with a potential eight races over the four days of the championships, but she showed she's more than capable with six races in two days at the Regional Championship. She seemed to just get faster and faster each time she hit the track."
Shareese was second in the 200 and fourth in the 100 at the East Region Championships last weekend to earn the dual automatic qualification. She earned her All-America honors this winter with an 11th-place finish in the 400-meter dash at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Courtney Patterson (Fayetteville, N.C.)
Courtney Patterson joins Woods with a qualification in the 100-meter dash, making Charlotte one of just five schools with multiple competitors in the women's 100.
Patterson is seeded 15th with a time of 11.30. She was fourth at last weekend's East Regional. She was the Atlantic 10 Conference 100-meter champion this season.
"Courtney Patterson is really getting accustomed to her dramatic improvement over this year, and how to reproduce top performances," said Olesen. "This confidence bodes well for her in the 100-meter and for the team in the 4x100-meter relay, as they strive to take the next step by advancing to the event finals at nationals."
WOMEN'S 4x100-METER RELAY
Lamarra Currie (Apex, N.C.)
Courtney Patterson (Fayetteville, N.C.)
Pat Springs (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Shareese Woods (Fort Lee, Va.)
Both Woods and Patterson will also run on Charlotte's 4x100-meter relay, along with freshmen Lamarra Currie and Pat Springs. This same four-woman team captured the A-10 Championship this spring, and individually Patterson, Currie and Springs swept through the top three spots, respectively, in the 100-meter dash at the A-10 Championships.
That foursome broke the school's record and finished fifth at the East Regional last weekend with a time of 44.46 seconds, earning them an at-large berth to the Championships. Charlotte's team is seeded 14th in a 20-team field.
"While the 4x100-meter relay exchanges were much-improved at the Regional Championship, there is still clearly more room for improvement. There's no telling how fast they could go. In the right conditions, a low-44 or even sub-44 second time is not out of the question. That would surely put them in the hunt for an appearance in the 4x1 final."
Tsehaye Dagnachew (Jacksonville, N.C.)
Tsehaye Dagnachew qualifies for her first NCAA Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She is seeded 21st out of 27 competitors with a time of 10:22.44, earning an at-large bid after finishing sixth at last weekend's East Regional Championships.
"Tsehaye has done a lot of racing up front and by herself this year in the steeplechase. It's just been in the last couple of meets that she has had people to face with, and this will definitely be the case in Sacramento. This will be a real test and great opportunity for her to really push herself to the limit and see how fast she can go."
Dagnachew was the Atlantic 10 champion in the steeplechase this year, and also captured the Conference USA championship in 2005.
Cassie Ficken (Conifer, Colo.)
Senior All-American Cassie Ficken also earned an at-large bid in the 5,000-meter run after an 11th-place finish in last weekend's East Regional Championships. Ficken is seeded 21st out of 28 competitors with a season-best time of 16:27.72 at the Region meet.
Ficken competed in the 5,000 at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, missing the cut for the final round by just one place with a 17th-place overall finish. She was second in the Atlantic 10 Conference in the event this year after winning the Conference USA 5K title in 2005. She earned All-America honors during the 2005 indoor season in the 3,000-meter run, finishing seventh in the nation but just four seconds out of the top spot.
"Cassie has been here before, and knows what it takes to be successful," said Olesen. "She proved she can do what it takes to get the job done at the right time last week at Region, recording a significant time to get her to the next level. The same strategy will apply next week to take that final step out of the 5K prelims and into the finals."
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