IWU Qualifies Six Individuals for NCAA Division III Track Meet

May 19, 2008

NCAA Division III Championships Web Page

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Four women and two men from Illinois Wesleyan have qualified in individual events for the NCAA Division III national outdoor track and field championships, to be held Thursday through Saturday, May 22-24, at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

The Illinois Wesleyan women’s team, national champions at the NCAA indoor meet in March, have senior Rachel Anderson and sophomores Ali McCoy, Amanda LaRocca and Mackenzie Clemens among the female competitors while seniors Segun Olopo and Matt Harden are among the male entrants in the meet.

In addition, the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams for both the men and women are represented in the national meet.

The student-athletes qualified for the national meet by reaching the automatic and provisional standards established for each event.

Titan Individual Qualifiers

Anderson (Clinton, Ill. HS) has the nation’s top qualifying times in both the 200 and 400. She was a three-time indoor national champion in the 400 and won the 2006 outdoor 400 before finishing second in 2007. Anderson was also sixth in the 200 at the 2007 outdoor meet. Her 200 time this spring is 24.14 seconds and her 400 mark is 55.62 seconds.

LaRocca (Palatine, Ill., HS) qualified in both the 100 and 100 hurdles. She has the fourth best qualifying time in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.28 seconds. Her 100 time of 12.20 seconds is the 17th best in the nation.

McCoy (Irving, Texas, Episcopal School of Dallas) has the second lowest qualifying mark in the 200, behind Anderson, with a time of 24.42 seconds.

Clemens (Bloomington, Ill., HS) will participate in the 800, having a school-record qualifying time of 2:13.47, the 20th best in Division III this spring.

Harden (O'Fallon, Ill., Township HS), who was second in the 200 and third in the 400 in the 2007 outdoor championships, has a 200 meter qualifying time of 21.37 seconds, fifth best in the country, and his 400 time of 47.28 is second best in Division III this spring.

Olopo (Chicago, Brooks School) has the fourth lowest time in the 200 (21.30 seconds) and the 11th lowest time in the 100 (10.67 seconds).

The women’s 4x400 relay team, comprised of Anderson, Clemens, McCoy, and senior Brooke Halcott (Streator, Ill., Ottawa Marquette HS), has the nation’s fourth best qualifying time of 3:49.60 and the 4x100 team of Anderson, LaRocca, McCoy and sophomore Alex Sawyer (Chicago, DeLaSalle HS) also has the fourth top time at 47.51 seconds.

The men's 4x400 relay team qualified for the NCAA meet with the third best time of 3:13.33. The relay team consists of Olopo, Harden, junior Mike Conti (Itasca, Ill., Driscoll Catholic HS) and freshman Noah Dunham (Pontiac, Ill., HS). Olopo, Harden, Conti and senior Alzizuddin Rose (Chicago, DeLaSalle HS) make up the 4x100 relay team that has the fifth lowest qualifying mark this spring at 41.12 seconds.

NCAA Schedule of Events Involving IWU Athletes Only

Thursday, May 22
3:45 p.m. - Women's 400-Meter Relay Trials
4:00 p.m. - Men's 400-Meter Relay Trials|
6:00 p.m. - Women's 200-Meter Dash Trials (Anderson, McCoy)
6:15 p.m. - Men's 200-Meter Dash Trials (Olopo, Harden)

Friday, May 23
4:40 p.m. - Women's 100-Meter Hurdles Trials (LaRocca)
5:20 p.m. - Women's 400-Meter Run Trials (Anderson)
5:35 p.m. - Men's 400-Meter Run Trials (Harden)
5:50 p.m. - Women's 100-Meter Dash Trials ( LaRocca)
6:05 p.m. - Men's 100-Meter Dash Trials (Olopo)
6:20 p.m. - Women's 800-Meter Run Trials ( Clemens)

Saturday, May 24
1:00 p.m. - Women's 400-Meter Relay Final
1:10 p.m. - Men's 400-Meter Relay Final
1:45 p.m. - Women's 100-Meter Hurdles Final (LaRocca)
2:10 p.m. - Women's 400-Meter Run Final ( Anderson)
2:20 p.m. - Men's 400-Meter Run Final (Harden)
2:30 p.m. - Women's 100-Meter Dash Final ( LaRocca)
2:40 p.m. - Men's 100-Meter Dash Final (Olopo)
2:50 p.m. - Women's 800-Meter Run Final (Clemens)
3:35 p.m. - Women's 200-Meter Dash Final ( Anderson, McCoy)
3:45 p.m. - Men's 200-Meter Dash Final (Olopo, Harden)
4:45 p.m. - Women's 1,600-Meter Relay Final
4:55 p.m. - Men's 1,600-Meter Relay Final

CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206