Track and Field Quintet Heads to NCAA Regionals
5/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Dahm seeks return trip to NCAAs in 3,000-meter Steeplechase
MILWAUKEE ? Five Marquette track and field student-athletes will take part in the NCAA Mideast Regional in Bloomington, Ind. The meet begins on Friday, May 27 and concludes on Saturday, May 28. Senior Brianna Dahm, senior Emily Leklem, junior Terri Emond and freshman Cassie Peller will compete on the women's side. Freshman Joe Pierre will compete on the men's side.
Dahm will be out to qualify for her third trip to the NCAA Championships in the 3,000 meters. She is one of 33 athletes competing in the event, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST (Indiana does not observe Daylight Savings Time. EST is equivalent to CDT). Dahm owns the 12th fastest time in the region, a 10:28.24 at the Conference USA championships in May 13th.
She is in the second heat of a two-heat timed final. She, and the other 17 runners in her heat, should know the time to beat prior tot he start of their race. In the first heat, there is no runner with a faster season best than Dahm's.
"Brianna has the best chance to advance. She has been to NCAA Championships before and she's no stranger to competing in this event," head coach Dave Uhrich said. "She's only a few seconds out of third place in the region, and I anticipate she can run a bit faster than her previous season best."
Dahm's time is just over four seconds away from the third best time, a 10:24.25 run by Michigan's Andrea Parker.
Joining Dahm in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase is Emond. She qualified for the event by running a 10:47.77 in the C-USA meet. She will run in the first heat.
In all events, automatic advancement to the NCAA Championships is given to the top five finishers in each of the four regions. At large selections will be granted, but to be a part of the field, an athlete must have finished in the top eight at the regional meet. At large selections will be granted based on season best performances and will be given in each event until the athlete quota for the NCAA Championships is met. Uhrich said typically an additional six to eight athletes will be taken in each event from across the country.
On the men's side, Pierre comes in with a solid chance at advancing to the NCAA meet. Pierre ranks 12th of the 24 competitors in the 800 meters. He ran a season best of 1:49.54 at the Conference USA Championships on May 14. He will first take to the track on Friday, May 27 in the preliminaries of the event, which are scheduled for 6:45 p.m. EST.
There are three heats in the 800 prelims. The top two finishers in each heat will advance to the final, held on Saturday, May 28th at 6:22 p.m. EST as will the next two best times. Pierre has the fourth fastest time in his heat.
Leklem will be competing in the shot put, beginning at 6 p.m. EST. She has the 17th best performance of the 31 in the field. Her toss of 48-feet, 4-inches at the Wisconsin Twilight on May 7 was a school record.
Peller is in the 1,500 meters, qualifying for the meet with a 4:27.54 in the Conference USA Championship. That is the 17th best time of the 22 qualifiers. Only 13 of the 22 elected to participate in the race, eliminating the qualifying round. Peller has the 12th best remaining time.
Uhrich believes all of Marquette's participants have a shot to advance to the NCAA Championships. He said every one of the qualifiers has had their season best in the last couple of weeks, something that isn't necessarily the case with the other qualifiers from the other institutions.
"Once you get to the regional meet, some athletes are performing better than others," Uhrich added. "All of our athletes are coming off their best performances and have been getting better. We're of the mindset that once you get to regionals, anything can happen. It only takes a little improvement on season bests to advance, and I think they are all capable of that."
At the Conference USA Championships, Marquette was in finals week, with all the student-athletes cramming their finals in a short period before the meet. Having that behind them, the five qualifiers have been able to focus on the task at hand.
"Getting to the regional round was a goal of all of the athletes. Having put the conference meet and finals behind them, they have all had time to relax and focus on the regionals," Urhich said.
The NCAA Championships will be held from June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.
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