Troy University Athletics
Thursday, May 26
Bloomington, IN
All Day
Troy University
vs
NCAA Regional Championship
East Preliminary Starts Thursday
5/25/2011 9:32:33 AM | Track & Field
TROY is set to compete in six events, with six different student-athletes
Live Stats :: Heat Sheets :: Meet Notes [.pdf] :: Meet Information :: Championship Central
Live Video [Thursday] :: Live Video [Friday] :: Live Video [Saturday]
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (TroyTrojans.com) – The Troy University track and field program will send six different student-athletes into competition this weekend at the NCAA Division I 2011 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as they compete in the East Preliminary Round host by Indiana University.
The meet will take place on the Indiana campus at the E.C. Billy Hayes Track inside the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex. The facility hosted the 1997 NCAA Championships and was resurfaced in 2010 and certified by the IAAF.
The East Preliminary round will feature the top 48 student-athletes based on time and distance in the region during the 2011 season; or the top 24 relay teams in each region. It is the second consecutive year that the NCAA has gone to the new format of taking the top 48 instead of basing the region on qualifying times and distances.
The Trojans have seven student-athletes who qualified for preliminary round, but will only send six into competition as sophomore Matt Braswell (44 in the javelin) is a scratch for the event.
The meet gets started Thursday morning, with the first Trojan beginning their competition at 12 noon as junior Martins Pildavs will compete for the javelin crown. The junior finished second in the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and currently has the fifth-best distance of any thrower in the competition at 73.39 meters – a new school record set this season.
The junior will look to jump four other competitors in his path; led by Sun Belt Conference champion Ignacio Guerra of WKU. Pildavs is the 15th thrower in the third and final flight of the competition on Thursday afternoon.
Also competing on Thursday in the qualifying rounds are Stanley Arukwe and Neko Freeman in the 100-meters; the duo finished third and fourth respectively at the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Freeman has run the 28th fastest time in the region this season at 10.38 seconds, while Arukwe has run the 39th fastest time at 10.44 seconds.
Arukwe will be running in lane one heat two on Thursday afternoon, beginning at 6 pm. He will be in a heat with a pair of runners from the Southeastern Conference, the ACC and hometown favorite Indiana. He is also in a flight with one of the sub-10 second times this season in Ngonidzashe Makusha of Florida State (9.97 seconds). Meanwhile, Freeman will be running in lane one of the sixth and final heat of the day. He is paired with runners from LSU, Florida State and Virginia Tech among others.
The Trojans will not compete again until Friday night when Terrell Irons takes flight in the triple jump. The Sun Belt Conference champion recorded the 26th best jump in the region this season with a distance of 15.45 meters at the championships. He will be jumping fourth in the second flight of the preliminaries on Friday night beginning at 6 pm.
The second round of qualifying for the 100-meters will take place at 6 pm on Friday, while Arukwe will hit the track again at 7:30 pm on Friday night in the 200-meters. The senior has recorded the 23rd fastest time in the region this year at 20.93 seconds. He will be running in lane three of the opening heat, paired with a trio of runners from the SEC.
The Trojans will finish up the competition Saturday with the quarterfinals of the 200-meter dash and the 4x100-meter relay.
The 4x100-meter relay recorded the 24th best time in the region this year at 40.36 seconds; and will feature Arukwe, Freeman, Thaddeus Curtis and Chris Upshaw. The team will be running in lane seven in the opening heat of the quarterfinals.
In all running events, the top three from each heat advance to the quarterfinals, along with the next six fastest times. The top three from each quarterfinal and the next three fastest times advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa and Drake University.
Live stats and live video will be made available by clicking on the links above. Results will be posted once they become available.
For all the latest news on Troy University Athletics, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/TroyAthletics, and become a fan on Facebook.
Doc Anderson Invitational
Thursday, April 09
Rick Stetson - Troy University Sports Hall of Fame
Monday, April 28
Marcus Woody - Troy University Sports Hall of Fame
Monday, April 28
Troy at ULM - Game 1 (Full Highlights)
Saturday, March 29