May 31, 2009

Results

Complete results available here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - - The University of Memphis men's and women's track teams advanced two individuals to finals, and picked up a seventh place finish in the men's triple jump and an eighth place finish in the men's 400 meter hurdles in competition on Saturday.

Sophomore Charlotte Abrahamsen started the morning for the women's team, competing in the javelin throw. She competed in the first flight of the event, finishing fifth in the flight with a best throw of 42.20 meters, which did not enough to advance her to the event finals.

The Tigers had a strong contingent in the women's shot put, with three different student-athletes qualified in the event. Just two Tigers recorded a mark at the meet though, with junior Marina Voljinovic posting her best mark on her first throw, a 14.47 meter effort before fouling on her two other attempts and finishing 28th overall in the event.

Senior Sivan Aballi capped her outstanding Tiger career with a 13th place finish in the shot in her third NCAA Regional appearance. Aballi's best mark was also her first throw, with a mark of 15.33 meters. Aballi fouled on her next throw, and threw a shorter distance of 15.16 meters on her third, and final put to wrap up a stellar Memphis career.

Next up for Memphis was freshman Kyosha Yarbrough, competing in her first outdoor regional in the women's triple jump. The freshman finished second in her flight with a best mark of 12.30 meters, but did missed qualifying for the finals.

The men's team took to the field next, as sophomore Aaron Whetstone scored two points with his seventh place finish in the triple jump. Whetstone, competing in the third flight, made his best effort in the prelims on his first jump, landing a jump of 15.86 meters before fouling a second attempt. The mark held up for a seventh place finish, scoring two points for the Tigers.

Fellow sophomore Richard Lowe also added a point for the Tigers by advancing to the finals of the 400m hurdles. Lowe, who qualified for the finals with a time of 51.78 on Friday night, finished eighth in the finals with a time of 54.71 on Saturday in his first-ever NCAA regional.

In all Memphis had five freshmen or sophomores competing in the regional. The top five finishers in each event advance to the NCAA Championships at the University of Arkansas, June 10-13th.

Arkansas finished first in the men's event with 90 points, followed by LSU with 83 points and Kentucky with 46. LSU placed first in the women's competition, finishing with 85.50 points, followed by Tennessee with 69 points and Michigan with 48.