Women's Field | Men's Field | East Preliminary Round
TAMPA - A total of 14 University of South Florida track and field athletes will take part in the NCAA Preliminary Round Championships next week, as the fields for both the East and West Regions have been set in the march to the NCAA Championships.
The East Preliminary Round will begin next Thursday, May 27, and run through Saturday, May 29, at the Irwin Bell Track at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.
The Bulls will send seven women and seven men to the Prelims, with 11 of those athletes having previous NCAA Regional experience.
On the men's side, four of the seven qualifiers are finishing up their senior seasons in 2010, including Greg Fontus in the 100 meters, Michael Kursteiner in the high jump, Sean Young in the pole vault and Tyler Perkins in the discus. Also joining those four are junior Antillio Bastian in the triple jump and sophomores David Aristil and Jared Thomas in the 400 hurdles and discus, respectively.
The women's team will take four sophomores to the Prelims along with a pair of juniors and one senior. The quartet of Sarah Canter and Casey Wagner in the javelin, Lauren Noe in the hammer and Nicole Rozario in the 3,000 steeplechase will compete along with junior pole vaulters Stephanie Duffy and Dana Webb and senior Yvana Hepburn in the 100 hurdles.
Thomas, Aristil, Wagner and Rozario each enter the Championships ranked in the top 10 in the East Region in their respective events. Under a new format this year, the top 12 qualifiers in each event at both the East and West Preliminary Rounds will move on to the NCAA Championships June 9-12 at the University of Oregon.
Thomas and Aristil find themselves third and fourth, respectively, in the East Region as they look to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. Both broke school records during their season runs, with Aristil setting the new USF mark at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships in early May when he also took home the BIG EAST title. Aristil completed the race in 50.42 at the Championships in Cincinnati.
Thomas, meanwhile, has broken the school record three times as a sophomore, culminating in his throw of 193-6 at the FSU Relays March 27. Only James Plummer of Rutgers, at 193-10, and Adonson Shallow of NE Louisiana at 196-1 have thrown farther than Thomas this year in the East Region.
Rozario is one of three Bulls who will make their first Regional appearance, as she enters the meet eighth in the Region in the steeplechase. USF's school record holder ran a 10:23.01 at the Sea Ray Relays on April 10 and later placed fifth at the BIG EAST meet.
USF will also have two competitors in the javelin, as Wagner will compete for the second year in a row while classmate Canter makes her debut in the Regional. Wagner comes in ranked ninth after setting the school record for the second time in 2010 with a throw of 155-7 at the Penn Relays April 22. Canter stands 38th after she set a new PR at 143-1 at the USF Open March 5.
Webb and Duffy will each make their third appearance at the Regional meet in the pole vault. Duffy stands 17th after clearing 13-1.5 on two separate occasions this year, while Webb is 29th after going over the 12-10 mark at the South Florida Invitational May 14. The duo swept the BIG EAST this season, as Duffy won the indoor title, while Webb captured the outdoor crown. Duffy also finished third at the outdoor meet.
In the high jump, Kursteiner will make it a perfect 4-of-4 in Regional appearances in his four years at USF after he leaped an all-time best of 6-11. He stands 28th in the region after that jump at the Spike's Classic April 4.
After missing last year's event due to injury, Young finds himself 29th in the pole vault after clearing 6-10.75 at the Sea Ray Relays April 10 after missing a month due to an ankle injury prior to that meet. He rebounded to take third at the BIG EAST outdoor meet after placing second during the indoor championships. Young will attempt to duplicate his 2008 performance that eventually landed him at the NCAA Championships.
Hepburn will compete in the 100 hurdles as she finishes up her career on a high note after placing second at the BIG EAST Championships at the beginning of May. A time of 13.49 at the LSU Alumni Gold meet has her ranked 24th among her East Region competitors. Hepburn will make the second NCAA Regional appearance of her career.
Another of USF's seniors going out on top, Perkins stands 22nd in the discus after a heave of 176-8 at the Bulls Invitational. Perkins is a veteran of the Regional meet after throwing the discus there in 2008 and '09.
A jump of 49-9.25 for Bastian has him sitting in 37th overall in the East Region. Bastian competed at last year's meet as well after transferring from junior college, as he looks to get back to his 2009 form when he launched himself past the 51-foot barrier.
Fontus ranks 43rd in the 100 meters after running a new personal best of 10.50 at the Bulls Invitational March 19, which ranks him second all-time at USF. The senior walk-on competed at last year's meet in the 200 meters.
Noe is the last Bull to earn herself a trip to the Regional for the first time ever, as a throw of 179-3 at the Bulls Invitational puts her at 42nd overall.
