2011 NCAA National Championship East Preliminary Results

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Battling rainy and windy conditions, Nicholls State University junior sprinter Samantha Calhoun got the Colonel track and field team off to a strong start at the 2011 NCAA National Championship East Preliminaries on Thursday as the Morgan City, La. held her place in the East Region with a top-40 time on day one of the three-day regional meet on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington.

Calhoun, who became the first ever Nicholls athlete to qualify for NCAA postseason competition in multiple events with regular season bests that ranked her in the top-48 of the NCAA East Region in the 100 m and 200 m, clocked in at 11.90 in the 100 m on Thursday as the first Colonel to see action at the 2011 regional meet.

Calhoun, who cruised to the Southland Conference 100 M championship with an 11.60 mark at the conference championships two weeks ago that outpaced second place by a full tenth of a second, battled wind and rain in her first NCAA postseason apperance, but still managed to hold her rank in the most prestigious field she has seen in her collegiate career.

Calhoun will return to action on Friday when she takes the track for the prelims of the 200 m dash.  Calhoun ranks 41st in the field after posting a school record time of 23.81 at the conference championships two weeks ago.  Calhoun will be joined on day two of the meet by teammates Chelsea Dockrey (high jump), Aja Scott (javelin) and Jaimee Springer (javelin).  The quartet of Colonel athletes represents the largest NCAA postseason contingent in school history.