|
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Northwestern State senior Chad Leath broke his own school record, running the fastest time in Friday's qualifying heats for Saturday's 400 meter hurdles final at the NCAA Mideast Regional Track and Field Championships, while Lady Demon sophomore Trecey Rew broke her own school discus mark. Leath raced to a 50.53 time, coming from behind over the final hurdle to win his heat over the second-fastest qualifier Friday, Lee Moore of Ole Miss (50.64). Auburn's Rueben McCoy, the top seed, was third fastest among the 26 regional contestants, clocking 50.70. Michigan's Daniel Harmsen was next at 51.15, followed by Nathanial Hughes of Alcorn State (51.24), Kent State's Nick Ivancic (51.33), Emmanuel Mayers from Mississippi State (51.33) and Eric Alejandro of Eastern Michigan (51.49) among the eight competitors advancing to Saturday evening's 6:50 championship final. Leath's time is the 14th-fastest collegiate mark this season. Among the Mideast Regional finalists, only Auburn's McCoy has run faster, with a 48.86 two weeks ago. The top five finishers in that race automatically advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
Leath broke a 15-year-old school record last month with a 51.56 at the NSU Invitational April 12, then carved away at the mark with a 50.63 time at the Southland Conference Championships May 7. The Hallsville, Texas native opted not to run Friday in the 110 meter preliminaries, where his 14.23 best time gave him virtually no chance of making the finals. Rew, the Southland Conference women's discus champion, added to her own school record Friday night, finishing eighth in the women's discus with a 164-6 throw that bettered her previous best of 163-1 set two weeks earlier. Rew, who came into the regional meet seeded 15th in the discus, will compete in the shot put Saturday. In the the men's javelin competition, NSU senior Samuel Norton finished 20th, fouling on his first two attempts and throwing 187-9, almost 20 feet behind his season's best, on his last attempt. Lady Demon sophomore Jessica Tuck, bothered by torn cartilage in her knee, was two feet behind her season's best 19-11 in the long jump in Friday's qualifying round and did not advance to the finals. Saturday, Lady Demon senior Dawn Comeaux throws the javelin, NSU junior Daniel Yarbrough makes his NCAA regional debut in the hammer, Rew competes in the women's shot put, Leath runs in the 400 meter hurdles final and the Demons' 4x400 meter relay team takes a shot at qualifying for nationals. |
