Track and Field Qualifies Nine for NCAA Regionals
5/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
PITTSBURGH— Nine members of the Pitt track and field team qualified for the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Championships held in Bloomington, Ind. at Indiana University, from May 26-28.
During the three-day meet, the Panthers will compete in eight events. This year's nine qualifiers matches last year's representation at the East Regional in Greensboro, N.C. Six of the nine are returners, while three others earned their first-ever NCAA berth.
Earning the highest seed overall, junior Jermaine Lowery is seeded ninth overall in the 400M hurdles. This is Lowery's second NCAA appearance, after finished 14th in the quarterfinals of the same event last year.
This year, he qualified for the East Regional with a career-best finish of 50.84 to earn All-Big East honors at the league's outdoor championship.
Senior Dontave Cowsette and junior Tashaun Hill will also return for their second-consecutive NCAA appearance. Cowsette will compete in the 800M run with a seed time of 1:50.49, while Hill recorded a season-best 14.26 finish in the 110M hurdles during the Sea Ray Relays to qualify.
Fresh off an All-Big East performance, freshman Reginald Steele IV will look to improve upon his 37th-place seed in the long jump. His 7.48 finish at the conference meet placed second overall earlier this month.
On the women's side, the Big East Champion women's 4x100 relay team comprised of sophomore Ashley Woodford, seniors Da'Lynn Mills and Lanesha Pugh and junior Cambrya Jones qualified for the East Regional with a No. 15 seed of 44.93.
Jones makes her second consecutive trip to the NCAAs, following a semi-final finish in the 200M dash last season. Seeded 22nd in the 200M, she will also compete in the 100M dash after qualifying with an 11.67 finish this season.
Running alongside Jones, Woodford makes her first individual NCAA appearance in the 100M dash.
Rounding out the Panthers, freshman Jessica Rocco tallied a top-20 seed in the javelin after qualifying with a 46.61 mark during the Big East Championships.
Following the NCAA rule change in 2010, the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Championships are made up of two Regional sites, East (Bloomington, Ind.) and West (Eugene, Ore.). The top 12 finishers at both sites will advance to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa at Drake Stadium June 8-11.
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Players Mentioned
