June 7, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Memphis junior thrower Gail Lee has made the trip to Sacramento, Calif., and is set to compete in the shot put in her first NCAA Outdoor Championships when the qualifying round of the event opens Thursday at Sacramento St. University.

The meet will actually mark Lee's second NCAA Championship appearance, however, after she earned All-American honors with a 10th-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships.

The U of M record holder in both the indoor and outdoor shot put, Lee enters the NCAA meet ranked 12th in the country in the shot with a mark of 54-07.50" (16.65m).

The San Antonio, Texas native automatically qualified for NCAA Championships with a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships two weekends ago.

With the trip to the NCAA meet, Lee will become the third Lady Tiger to compete at the outdoor championships in the past four years, following Keenan Gibson, who took part in the 100m and 200m in 2003 and Lisa-Marie Hyman, who participated in the triple jump last year.

However, Lee will become the only Lady Tiger thrower ever to compete at NCAA Outdoors and the only U of M woman ever to compete in both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships.

Opening rounds of the women's shot put are set for 7:15 p.m. (PST) Thursday evening, with the event finals slated for 12:30 p.m. (PST) Saturday.