SPECIAL TO THE FLASH
TarletonSports.com
STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton is sending 16 athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Bradenton, Florida on May 26-28.
Tarleton will be represented by nine men and seven women at the championships which will be held at IMG Academy.
“This is a solid group of student-athletes attending the national championships,” said head coach Pat Ponder. “There are a lot of schools that do not have a representative at the championships, so to have 16 competing is awesome.”
For the Texans, Chase Rathke will be running the 1500-meter after running an automatic qualifying time of 3:44.15 at the Mt. Sac Relays. Rathke, who won a national championship in the 1500-meter in 2014, currently ranks first in the Lone Star Conference and fifth in the nation in the event. Joining Rathke in the 1500-meter is Dylan Willett. Willett’s time of 3:48.58 at the Sam Houston State Last Chance meet ranks second in the LSC this season.
The Texans will be well-represented in the hurdles at the championships with Dalton Stidhamrunning the 110-meter hurdles and Randall Kadlacek running the 400-meter hurdles. Stidham’s time of 14.14 at the Lone Star Conference Championships ranks second and Kadlacek’s 52.49 at the Michael Johnson Classic ranks second in the LSC as well.
Rascellis Williams is the only representative in the field events for the Texans, as Williams will compete in the high jump. Williams’ jump of 6′ 11″ at the ACU Oliver Jackson Twilight ranks second in the LSC. Tarleton’s 4×400-meter relay team of Gilson Umunnakwe, Blake Eschbach, Cameron Krc, and Clarencio Guerrero ran a 3:09.79 at the ACU Twilight to qualify for nationals.
For the TexAnns, DeAijha Hicks-Boyce will be competing in four events at the NCAA championships. Hicks-Boyce will run the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, the two events the sophomore established new school records in this season. Hicks-Boyce’s 100m time (11.51) ranks first in the LSC and eighth in the nation and her 200m time (23.76) ranks third in the LSC and tenth in the nation.
Both of the relay teams for the TexAnns are heading to Florida to compete for a national championship. The 4×100-meter relay team of Deylinn Garrett, Ariel Ballard, Hollie Boyd, and Hicks-Boyce ran a 46.00 at the Joe Gillespie Invitational. The 4×400-meter relay of Ashley Johnson, Hicks-Boyce, Ballard, and Jasmine Owens set a new school record of 3:41.51 at the ACU Twilight, which also ranks first in the LSC this season.
For the field events, Danyelle Dillard‘s throw of 47’ 9.75″ at the Sam Houston State Last Chance event earned her berth in the national championships. Dillard’s throw ranks fourth in the LSC as she is the only TexAnn to earn a national’s berth in the field events.
Heat and flight information will be available on Monday, May 23 and live results of the national championships will be available at http://www.leonetiming.com/2016/Outdoor/NCAADII/
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