Miami University
NCAA East Region Preliminary
RedHawks Excel on Opening Day of NCAA Preliminary
5/25/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
Results
LEXINGTON, Ky. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃÆ'¢'¬" A week-long layoff proved no obstacle for the surging Miami track and field program as four competitors kept their seasons going at the NCAA East Region Preliminary on Thursday.
Martha Szekely and Danielle Collier punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon in the hammer throw and javelin, respectively. Beyond those two, Vincent Minosky and Andrew Dusing both posted top-10 finishes as they advanced to the quarterfinal round in the 400m hurdles and 1500m.
"I couldn't be happier with how these athletes performed today," Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Tom Chorny said. "Each one of them stepped up to the plate knowing that they deserved to be there and executed with confidence. I definitely see this as a continuation of the momentum we had at the conference meet and expect that this is a good sign of what's to come for the rest of the weekend and beyond."
Szekely began the day on a strong note for the Red & White when her first trip to the throwing circle ended with a mark of 194-10, putting her in second place at the end of the second flight and ultimately finishing 10th overall to move her to the national meet for the first time in her career. Likewise, it was Collier's first toss in the javelin runway that allowed her to survive and advance to Eugene when it landed 154-11, allowing her to hold onto 12th and continue her breakout sophomore campaign.
While not able to clinch trips to the national meet quite yet, MU's competitors on the men's side were no less impressive as both Dusing and Minosky drastically outperformed their prerace seeding (both 41st) to advance to their event quarterfinals. Minosky clocked a career-best 51.80 to finish with the ninth-fastest time in the first round of the 400m hurdles, a time that ranks third on the school's all-time top-10 list. He'll race again in the 400m hurdle quarterfinals on Friday at 7:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, Dusing finished second in the 1500m field with a time of 3:47.07, just .25 seconds off the lead. That performance creates a busy Saturday for the senior as he will battle for a berth to nationals in Saturday's 1500m quarterfinals (6:45 p.m.) and 5000m semifinals (8:45 p.m.).
With Minosky qualifying for Friday's quarterfinal, Alexus Jimson-Miller (100m hurdles at 4:30 p.m.) and Matt Bromley (3000m steeplechase at 9 p.m.) will also represent the RedHawks on day two of the preliminary meet.
Players Mentioned
