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Syracuse University
NCAA Outdoor Championship
Bush Breaks Through to Long Jump Finals
6/10/2009 10:57:32 PM | Track and Field
Day One Results | Watch Live Tomorrow
NCAA Championship Central: NCAA Website | USTFCCCA Website
FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – Senior Bernard Bush finished 11th out of 27 in the preliminary heat of the long jump competition at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted by the University of Arkansas. Bush's new personal record of 7.78m qualified him for a shot at the national title tomorrow at 4:45 p.m. at John McDonnell Field.
The top 12 finishers move on to Thursday's championship round.
Bush joins Reindell Cole (Northridge – 8.21m), Alain Bailey (Arkansas – 7.96m), Julian Reid (Texas A & M – 7.91m), Nicholas Gordon (Nebraska - 7.89m), Ngonidzashe Makusha (Florida State - 7.87m), Luis Rivera-Morales (Arizona - 7.85m), Tyron Stewart (Texas A&M - 7.83m), Will Claye (Oklahoma - 7.83m), Jeremy Hicks (LSU – 7.81m), Stanley Gbagbeke (Middle Tennessee State – 7.79m) and Mychael Stewart (Arkansas – 7.77m). LSU's Will Coppage pushed into the finals on a technicality.
The last time a member of the Orange field team made a showing in the final round of the NCAA Championship was Jillian Drouin's high jump performance in 2007. Drouin recorded a mark of 1.77m to pass into the final round. Drouin earned ninth place with a final leap of 1.80m, but was tabbed as an All-American in the same championship after tabulating 5,822 points for third place in the heptathlon.
Severe weather moved into the Fayetteville area in the first day of competition, forcing a four-hour holding pattern mandated by NCAA officials approximately at 7:15 p.m. EST.
Senior steeplechaser Kyle Heath, if competition resumes, will not run in his preliminary race until 12:30 a.m. EST. The Farmington, N.Y. native was just named the Men's Northeast Division Track Athlete of the Year on Monday. He is in contention for his second-consecutive All-America bid.
Along with Bush's final at 4:45 p.m. tomorrow, junior Uhunoma Osazuwa's quest for the national championship in the heptathlon gets underway at 11:15 a.m. Osazuwa will complete the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200-meter dash in the first day of competition.
