Syracuse University
NCAA East Region Championship
NCAA Regional Preview: Sprints/Hurdles
5/26/2009 1:50:53 PM | Track and Field
NCAA Regional Championship Schedule
List of Orange Postseason Qualifiers
NCAA Regional Qualifying Standards
2009 Outdoor Performances: Men | Women
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The track & field team continues its outdoor postseason campaign at the 2009 NCAA Division I East Regional Championship hosted by North Carolina A & T State. The two-day event starts on Friday, May 29 at 11:00 a.m. Syracuse will send 16 student-athletes, including eight men and eight women, to compete in 11 different events at Irwin Belk Track.
Syracuse took a break over Memorial Day weekend after competing in the ECAC / IC4A Outdoor Championship two weeks ago at Princeton. The men's team fashioned a tie for eighth place while the women concluded the meet in 14th place. The Orange boasted three championship performances including feats by senior Kyle Heath in the steeplechase (8:42.38), junior Uhunoma Osazuwa in the heptathlon (5,258 points) and the 4 x 100-meter relay team of sophomores Sham Lewis and Jarret Eaton and seniors Terry Marshall and Bernard Bush (40.35).
Overall, 11 NCAA Regional-qualifying prerequisites were surpassed at the ECAC / IC4As. Below is a preview of Orange athletes that will compete against the region's top talent in the sprints/hurdles, distance and multi/fields events.
Sprints / Hurdles
All-BIG EAST performer sophomore sprinter Flings Owusu-Agyapong has topped NCAA Regional standards four times in the 100-meter dash with her fastest mark coming at the UNC Invite of 11.66.
The Orange quartet of Bush, Eaton, Lewis and Marshall missed the school record in the 4 x 100-meter relay by a mere 0.04 seconds in their IC4A Championship jaunt of 40.35. SU's four eyes its second-consecutive postseason title in Greensboro, N.C.
Eaton and Marshall will also vie for the 110-meter hurdles crown this weekend. Eaton's mark of 13.99 denotes SU's fastest time this season while Marshall posted his quickest clip in the preliminary round of the IC4A in 14.09. Eaton has meet NCAA Regional criteria on three occasions this year while Marshall has turned the trick twice. Friday night's preliminary race marks Eaton's second NCAA postseason trial. The Abingdon, Pa. native ran alongside Ramon Sosa in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championship.
Joining the men in hurdles competition is Osazuwa. The Las Vegas native is the only Orange to have qualified for three events at the NCAA Regionals (heptathlon, 100-meter hurdles and high jump). Osazuwa touched upon the regional benchmark twice this year, including her first-place time of 13.85 at Princeton and a clip of 13.88 en route to her heptathlon crown at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championship.
Friday's NCAA Regional gets underway at 11:00 a.m. on Friday morning with the men's javelin toss. The first event the Orange will take part in is the men's 4 x 100-meter relay prelims at 4:15 p.m.
