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Tigers Send Nine to Louisville for the NCAA MidEast Regionals
May 28, 2009
NCAA MidEast Regional Championship Website MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis track & field team sends nine athletes to compete at the NCAA MidEast Regional Championships in Louisville, Ky on Friday, May 29 and Saturday, May 30 at Louisville's Cardinal Park Stadium. The top five individuals and top three relays in each event at each of the four regional meets throughout the country receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships from June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. "It is a great experience for them," said head coach Kevin Robinson. "As a track athlete, this is what you live for. You go through the whole season at smaller meets in poor conditions with heavy training loads and this is what you put all of the work and effort into since the start of practice in September. We have trained our athletes to compete against the best in the country and I fell like everyone that is going is ready to compete at the best of their ability and I'm very proud of them." Other regional sites include the East Region at North Carolina A&T State, the West Region at the University of Oregon and the Midwest Region at the University of Oklahoma "I'm really excited to see Aaron Whetstone," said Robinson. "He is our highest ranked athlete coming in and he has looked great in training. We just need to get him on the board because if we do that, I don't think there is anybody that can keep him out of the national meet. Richard Lowe has also looked phenomenal in training and he should perform well this weekend."
The NCAA MidEast Region includes some of the best track & field teams in the country as ranked by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Top-25 programs included in the MidEast region include on the men's side, No. 6 Arkansas, No. 8 LSU, No. 10 Auburn, No. 20 Kentucky, and No. 23 Mississippi State. Fellow C-USA foe Southern Miss will also be represented at the MidEast Regional. On the women's side No. 3 LSU, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 10 Michigan, No. 16 Arkansas and No. 17 Auburn will be in competition at the MidEast Regional, along with C-USA teams Southern Miss, Tulane and UAB.
"This will be the most competitive meet that we have seen up to this point," said Robinson. "I think legitimately, all four of our men have the opportunity to advance. On the women's side, we have a couple of young athletes in Kyosha (Yarbrough) and Marina (Vojinovic) who will get a phenomenal experience out of this event. There is no pressure for them to go beyond, but we hope that they will. I hope this can give them some confidence and propel them into the next year." Live results will be available throughout the meet at www.deltatiming.com and also linked on www.gotigersgo.com Memphis Tigers NCAA Regional Roster Aaron Evans Fr./Devonshire, Bermuda/Cushing Aca 800m run - 1:49.35 Evans hits the track for the first time at the NCAA MidEast Regionals for the 800m run preliminaries at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. Evans recorded his career best NCAA regional qualifying mark at the Mississippi Open as he took first place in the event with a time of 1:49.35. During the indoor season, he grabbed second-place at the C-USA Indoor Championship. Evans is currently 12th on the MidEast descending performance list. 800m run - Personal Record:1:49.35 Richard Lowe So./Kansas City, Mo./Ruskin H.S. 400m hurdles - 51.55 Lowe looks to qualify for the 400m hurdles finals as the preliminary heats are run at 5:40 p.m. on Friday. Lowe recorded a pair of regional qualifying marks during the 2009 outdoor season including his personal best at the Memphis Tiger Invitational with a time of 51.55. He also earned second-place at the C-USA Outdoor Championships with a qualifying time of 51.63. Lowe is currently 11th on the MidEast descending performance list. 400m hurdles - Personal Record: 51.55 Christian McDonald Sr./Bonner Springs, Kan./Hutchinson C.C. Javelin - 63.55 The first Tiger in competition is McDonald who is set to compete in the javelin at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 29. He recorded three regional qualifying marks in the javelin during the 2009 outdoor season including his season best at the C-USA Championships with a mark of 63.55m (208-06). This is McDonald's second trip to the NCAA MidEast Regionals. He set a personal record in the javelin at the 2008 regionals with a mark of 64.90m (212-11). He is currently 21st on the MidEast descending performance list. Javelin - Personal Record: 64.90m (212-11) Aaron Whetstone So./Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle H.S. Long Jump - 7.75m (25-05.25) Triple Jump - 15.90m (52-02.00) Whetstone heads into action on Friday at 5:00 p.m. with the preliminaries and finals of the long jump and again at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, with the preliminaries and finals of the triple jump. He recorded a pair of regional qualifying marks in the long jump including a mark of 7.50m (24-07.25) at the Joey Haines Invitational. The sophomore took home the long jump title at the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championships with a personal record 7.75m (25-05.25). Whetstone recorded a pair or regional qualifying marks and four second-place finishes this year including a mark of 15.01m (49-03.00) at the Joey Haines Invitational and his season-best jump at the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championships with a qualifying mark of 15.90m (52-02.00). Whetstone is currently sixth on the MidEast descending performance list in the long jump and third in the triple jump. Long Jump - Personal Record: 7.75m (25-05.25) Triple Jump - Personal Record: 16.60m (54-05.50) Sivan Aballi Sr./ Holon, Israel/Kiriat-Sharet H.S. Shot Put - 15.49m (50-10.00) This marks the third time that the senior has qualified for the NCAA MidEast Regionals in the shot put. Aballi is scheduled to compete at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday alongside a pair of teammates Karmyn Clark and Marina Vojinovic in the shot put. Each of the five meets that she competed in during the 2009 outdoor season, she set an NCAA regional qualifying mark with her best mark coming at the Ole Miss Invitational with a toss of 15.49m (50-10.00). Aballi was the 2009 C-USA Indoor Shot Put Champion with a mark of 15.92m (52-02.75). Aballi is currently 16th on the MidEast descending performance list in the shot put. Shot Put - Personal Record: 16.36m (53-08.25). Charlotte Abrahamsen So./Sande, Norway/Sande Videregiarde Javelin - 44.36m (137.01) This is Abrahamsen's second trip to the NCAA MidEast Regional. In 2008, she qualified in the shot put and finished in 26th place with a mark of 14.06m (46-01.50). In 2009, she qualified in the javelin throw and is scheduled to compete at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Abrahamsen is an NCAA All-American for the indoor track & field pentathlon event. Abrahamsen's season record for the javelin throw came at the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championships with a regional qualifying mark of 44.36m (145-06).Abrahamsen is currently 17th on the MidEast descending performance list in the javelin throw. Javelin - Personal Record: 47.31m (155-02.75) Karmyn Clark Jr./Florissant, Mo./Rend Lake C.C. Shot Put - 14.37m (47-01.75) Clark will be beginning competition in the shot put at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday with teammates Sivan Aballi and Marina Vojinovic. She continually improved her marks throughout the 2009 season finishing at the C-USA Championships with a fifth-place and personal best regional qualifying throw of 14.37m (47-01.75). Clark is currently 48th on the MidEast descending performance list in the shot put. Shot Put - Personal Record: 14.37m (47-01.75) Marina Vojinovic Jr./Belgrade, Serbia/Sport H.S. Shot Put - 15.36m (50-04.75) Vojinovic is scheduled to compete in the shot put at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday along with teammates Sivan Aballi and Karmyn Clark. She recorded four regional qualifying marks throughout the 2009 outdoor season including a second-place personal record toss at the C-USA Outdoor Championships with a mark of 15.36m (50-04.75). Vojinovic is currently 21st on the MidEast descending performance list in the shot put. Shot Put - Personal Record: 15.36m (50-04.75) Kyosha Yarbrough Fr./Town Creek, Ala./Nicolet H.S. Triple Jump - 12.36m (40-06.75) Yarbrough is set to compete in the triple jump at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. The freshman recorded her personal record leap in the triple jump at the 2009 C-USA Outdoor Championships and earned seventh-place with a regional qualifying mark of 12.36m (40-06.75). Yarbrough is currently 24th on the MidEast descending performance list in the triple jump. Triple Jump - Personal Record: 12.36m (40-06.75) Last Year's NCAA MidEast Regionals On the men's side, Amaechi Oselukwue competed in the 110m hurdles and finished 19th with a time of 14.45. Whetstone recorded a 12th place leap of 15.32m (50-03.25) in the triple jump. Christian McDonald notched a personal record throw of 64.90m (212-11) in the javelin throw and finished in seventh-place. Glen Edwards took ninth-place in the shot put with a toss of 17.32m (56-10.00) and Knut Syversen took 18th place with a throw of 16.42m (53-10.50). Seth Major recorded a toss of 50.43m (165-05) in the discus and finished in 27th place. Steffen Nerdal notched a ninth-place finish in the discus with a toss of 54.18m (177-09) and a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw with a mark of 66.59m (218-06) and qualified for the NCAA Championships. For the women, Sivan Aballi finished in ninth-place in the shot put with a toss of 15.69m (51-05.75) and 17th place in the discus with a mark of 47.62m (156-03). Charlotte Abrahamsen recorded a shot put mark of 14.06m (46-01.50) and placed in 26th place. All-American Susan King took home the shot put title with a mark of 17.60m (57-09.00). She placed sixth in the discus with a throw of 51.19m (167-11) and 26th in the hammer throw with a mark of 51.59m (169-03).
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