May 30, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, PA - Eleven Atlantic 10 student-athletes have qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, to be held June 6-9 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State (CA) University.

Charlotte senior Jason Moore, by virtue of his 10.26-second time he ran at the Atlantic 10 Championships, has received an at-large entry in the men's 100m dash. Moore will join five other Niners at the National Championships. Courtney Patterson of Charlotte grabbed an at-large spot with her 100m time of 11.55 seconds in her preliminary race at the University of Florida last weekend. It was her fastest time of the season and was good for an at-large berth to the Championships.

Charlotte's Shareese Woods qualified for the 100m and 200m dashes, but will focus only on the 200m event. She was second at the region meet with a school-record time of 23.09 seconds in the 200m and was fourth in the 100m, running at 11.66 seconds. Woods set the previous 200m school record, 23.11 seconds, last year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Teammate Aja Jackson finished fifth in Florida to qualify for the championship meet with a school-record time of 2:06.76 in the 800m finals.

Sharonda Johnson of Charlotte will head to her second outdoor championship with a region fifth-place finish in the triple jump. She posted a season-long 13.06m (42' 10.25") distance in the event and will try for her second All-America award in the event for the outdoor season.

49ers sophomore Pat Springs became the first Niner woman to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championship in the long jump, when she tied the school-record, set by Tawanna Norman in 2005, on her first jump at the region meet, leaping 6.28m (20' 7.25") for a fifth place finish.

Duquesne junior Tom Slosky qualified in the 3,000m steeplechase for the second season in a row. Slosky finished fourth at the NCAA East Regionals with a time of 8:45.33 that broke his own school record (8:52.08) set two weeks ago at the IC4A championships. The top five finishers automatically qualified for the NCAA national championships.

La Salle senior Sean Quigley ran the 5,000m in a time of 14:10.79 to finish third and earn NCAA qualification. He had also previously earned a spot in the national meet in the 10,000m and will run the 10K at the national meet. Teammate Rachel Papin also qualified in the 5,000m at the NCAA Regionals (16:19.29) but will run the 10K at the national meet after previously qualifying for the event.

Rhode Island senior Ashhad Agyapong earned an automatic spot in the field of the 200m by virtue of his fifth place finish at the NCAA Regionals. Agyapong placed fifth overall after clocking 20.72 seconds. He also qualified for a trip to the national championships in the 100m after posting times of 10.40 in the trials and 10.64 in the finals.

Sophomore Jessica Young of Richmond qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter dash, breaking her own school record for the second-straight day at the NCAA East Regional Championships. Young finished fourth in the 400 dash finals in a time of 52.49 seconds, which topped her previous school-record time of 52.68 that she ran in the preliminaries.

The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be contested June 6-9. The meet will be broadcast live on CSTV from 8:30-11:30 p.m. (ET) on June 8 and live on CBS from 1-3 p.m. (ET) on June 9. Live results can be found at www.ncaasports.com.

2007 Atlantic 10 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Participants (event):
Ashhad Agyapong, Rhode Island (100m, 200m)
Jason Moore, Charlotte (100m)
Sean Quigley, La Salle (10,000m)
Tom Slosky, Duquesne (3,000m steeplechase)
Aja Jackson, Charlotte (800m)
Sharonda Johnson, Charlotte (triple jump)
Rachel Papin, La Salle (10,000m)
Courtney Patterson, Charlotte (100m)
Pat Springs, Charlotte (long jump)
Shareese Woods, Charlotte (200m)
Jessica Young, Richmond (400m)