Orange Represent Respective Countries at NACAC U-23 Track & Field Championships
7/21/2008 1:06:49 PM | Track and Field
Click here for U-23 NACAC Results
TOLUCA, MEXICO – Syracuse senior track and field member, Kyle Heath and SU alumnus Jillian Drouin, partook in the 2008 North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Under 23 Track & Field Championships on Friday, July 18 through July 20.
Heath, Syracuse’s first distance runner All-American since Jim O’Connell in 1983, fashioned a second place time of 9:24.52 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the United States on Sunday. Josafat Gonzales of Mexico skipped to the beat of 9:15.04 for the gold.
The Farmington, N.Y. native set the Syracuse University school record for the steeplechase at the 2008 NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa with an 8:38.03 stretch, finishing sixth overall.
It is worth nothing Heath’s time at the NACAC’s lagged almost 45 seconds behind his personal record given that the altitude where the race was ran climbed upwards of 8,000 feet in elevation.
Heath’s silver garnering aided the United States in their heavy handed victory at the NACAC Under 23 Track & Field Championships as USA captured 62 total medals (28 gold, 26 silver and eight bronze). Host country Mexico finished in second place with a final tally of 19 medals.
Heath was elected as one of seventy-eight athletes to represented Team USA 2008 at the NACAC U-23 Championships.
In addition to his fine performance south of the border this past weekend, Heath finished ninth in Heat 1 of the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. on July 3. The BIG EAST and IC4A champion logged a time of 8:39.51, four second shy of qualifying for the finals.
Representing Canada in the NACAC U-23 Championships, two-time ESPN The Magazine Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field Academic First Team All-American Jillian Drouin produced a gold medal in the women’s heptathlon, finishing her performance with 5,714 points. Drouin bettered American runner-up Bettie Wade by 203 collective points. Drouin nailed down winning performances in the high jump (1.87m) and long jump (6.07m) en route to her overall victory.
Drouin’s gold medal bolstered Canada to a third place ranking with 15 total top three finishes.
The 2008 Soladay Award winner (the most prestigious honor bestowed upon a student-athlete at Syracuse University) finished 11th in the heptathlon at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Championship. The 2007 Heptathlon All-American is a two-time BIG EAST heptathlon champion. She finished third in the heptathlon at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championship and is a three-time BIG EAST Champion in the high jump, pentathlon and heptathlon, and a four-time All-conference performer. Drouin owns three Syracuse school records in the pentathlon, heptathlon and outdoor high jump.
The NACAC is the continental confederation governing body of athletics for national governing bodies and multi-national federations within North America, Central America and the Caribbean. NACAC is one of six area associations of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF).
The NACAC Under-23 Championships are held every two years in one of the 32 member nations of the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association.
