2011 NCAA National Championship East Preliminary Meet Homepage

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Nicholls State University women's track and field team will send its largest ever contingent to the NCAA National Championships when four Colonel athletes head to the 2011 NCAA National Championship East Prelims on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.

Junior sprinter Samantha Calhoun, senior high jumper Chelsea Dockrey and javelin throwers Aja Scott and Jaimee Springer give the Colonels the program's most NCAA postseason qualifiers in school history.  In 2010, the Colonels recorded multiple postseason qualifiers for the first time in school history as former Colonel athlete Leslie Bourgeois and Scott qualified in the javelin and distance runner Kadi Whisnant qualified in the 3,000 M steeplechase.

This year, Scott returns to the NCAA postseason for the second time in as many seasons.  Scott joins Bourgeois as the only multiple NCAA qualifier in school history.  Scott enters competition ranked 41st in the region among declared competitors with a season best throw of 44.05 m (144 ft. 6 in.).

Joining Scott, and giving the Colonels multiple qualifiers in the javelin for the second straight year, is Springer.  In her first collegiate season, Springer earned All-Southland Conference honors by finishing second at the 2011 Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  Springer will be ranked 31st among her regional competitors with a season best  mark of 44.71 m (146 ft. 8 in.).

Meanwhile, Calhoun becomes the first athlete in school history to qualify for multiple events in national postseason competition.  The Morgan City, La. native cruised to the 100 M championship at the conference meet, taking first place by a full tenth of a second and clocking a season best time of 11.60.  Calhoun returned later in the day to claim All-Southland honors with a school record time of 23.81, the first sub-24 second time in school history, to take second place.  Calhoun's times will rank her 37th in the 100 m and 41st in the 200 m in Bloomington.

Senior high jumper Chelsea Dockrey rounds out the Colonels' four-woman team.  The 2011 Southland Conference high jump champion will be the highest ranked Nicholls athlete in Bloomington, as Dockrey's school record mark of 1.76 m (5 ft. 9.25 in), recorded in a jump off to win the Southland Conference crown, will rank her 23rd among competitors at the regional meet.

Calhoun will be the first Colonel to compete, taking to track at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, the first day of the three-day meet, for the qualifying round of the 100 M.  Scott and Springer will be next up with a noon start time scheduled for Friday's javelin qualifying rounds with Dockrey slated to compete in the qualifying round of the high jump at 1 p.m. on Friday.

Should any of the Colonel quartet advance, they will compete in the NCAA Finals June 8-11 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

A free live video stream of the 2011 NCAA National Championship East Preliminary Meet will be made available at www.geauxcolonels.com and www.iuhoosiers.com on the day of the meet.