May 26, 2006

Complete Day 1 Results in PDF Format
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - In her first outdoor season at the U of M, 2005 Indoor All-American Gail Lee has added another achievement to her long list of accolades, as the junior placed fifth in the shot put on day one of the NCAA Mideast Regionals to automatically qualify for NCAA Championships in two weeks.

Fellow thrower J.D. Erickson just missed a top-five showing of his own, placing seventh in the discus and falling short of an automatic trip to NCAAs by two spots.

Lee, who ranked fourth in the region in the shot put entering the meet, came up just short of her top efforts, but still managed a throw of 53-01.00" (16.18m) to claim a top-five finish and a trip to her first NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Fort Worth, Texas native will have a second opportunity to qualify for the NCAA meet when she competes in the hammer on Saturday.

Erickson set a new personal best by nearly three feet with a throw of 180-7" (55.04m) in his seventh-place showing in the discus, missing out on the top-five by less than three feet. He too will have a second chance to qualify for the NCAA meet when he takes part in the shot put on Saturday.

In other results from Friday, Susan King finished 12th in the shot put with a throw of 48-03.25" (14.71m) in the first of her two events of her first Regional meet. The junior will also take part in Saturday's discus.

Chen Edri placed 12th in the javelin with a throw of 139-07" (42.54m), improving on her 13th-place finish in the event at the 2005 Regional meet.

Willie Green missed out on a spot in the finals in the 100m by five positions, placing 13th in prelims with a time of 10. 43. Green, Daniel Bandy, Marcus Thomas and Daemien Jefferson also missed the finals in the 4x100m relay, taking 13th in prelims with a time of 40.90.

Norbert Gulyas placed 17th in the discus with a toss of 167-11" (51.19m), bettering his 22nd-place showing in the event at the 2005 Regional meet.

Brandon Winbush had somewhat of a disappointing performance in the long jump, as he took 18th place in the long jump with a leap of 23-11.50" (7.30m), falling well short of his fifth-place finish at the 2005 Regionals.

Sivan Aballi also had a disappointing, 25th-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 45-06.50" (13.88m), but will have a second opportunity to shine in her first Regional meet, as she too is set to take part in the discus on Saturday.

Day two of the 2005 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships will get underway at 11 a.m. EST Saturday.