Charlotte Track and Field begins its quest for national titles this week as the 49ers take on the sport's elite at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The action begins Wednesday from Bloomington, Indiana, at Haugh Track & Field on the campus of Indiana University, where four days of competition will narrow the field down in the east region to determine who advances to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon in June.
The top 48 individuals and top 24 relays in each event within the region qualifies for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, with the top 12 finishers at the meet advancing to the NCAA Championships. The decathlon and heptathlon are not held at the NCAA West or East Preliminary Rounds, as the top 24 athletes in those events automatically advance to the championship site in Oregon
BIG C-USA SWEEP
Charlotte is coming off a sweep of the Conference USA Outdoor Championship, with the men winning their fourth straight title and the women claiming their first win since 2019. This is the 49ers' first sweep of league titles since 2019, when both the men and women captured the outdoor titles.
THE BIG THIRTY
Coach Bob Olesen added his 29th and 30th conference Coach of the Year trophies to his case after Charlotte swept the men's and women's 2022 conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. The 49ers picked up 24 All-Conference honors at the outdoor league meet, including eight gold medals, as the men won with 179.50 points and the women earned the victory with 121 points thanks to a 4x400m gold medal win.
RUN IT FAST TURBO
Charlotte 49ers sprinter Ta-Halia Fairman was named the Conference USA Female Track Performer of the Meet. Fairman won the C-USA women's 100-meter and 200-meter races with times of 11.48 and 23.34 and was part of the first-place relay team that clinched the women's title with a thrilling performance in the 4x400 relay, the meet's final event, to overtake second-place UTSA by three points.
THE ACTION
Action is set to start from Haugh Track & Field at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday with the men's hammer throw. The first running events get underway at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday. Action resumes Thursday at 10 a.m. with women's field events and running at 6 p.m. Friday competition continues with men's discus at 1:00 p.m. and running events at 5:00 p.m. Saturday is slated for a 1 p.m. start for women's in field events and at 5 p.m. on the track.
Fans can keep up with the action at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds with live results online provided by FlashResults.com. A link will be provided at Charlotte49ers.com and NCAA.com. Updates on the Niners' will also be available on the team's official Twitter account @CharlotteTFXC. The NCAA also will be tweeting from its official track and field account @NCAATrackField. Fans are encouraged to follow and interact with the meet by using the official hashtag #NCAATF throughout the three days of the competition.
EVENTS TO WATCH
• Men's 110 Hurdles (Justin Leaston, D'Andre Hayes): Sophomore Justin Leaston placed second in the men's 110 hurdles, clocking a P.B. time of 13.55 to break his own record at the Conference USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Leaston holds the record for Charlotte in the men's 100H. He'll be joined in the event by teammate D'Andre Hayes.
• Men's 5k (Paul Arredondo, Nick Scudder) & 10k (Nick Scudder): Sophomore Nick Scudder shattered the oldest men's school record on the books in the men's 5k this year, clocking in a time of 13:40.62, which took over 12 seconds off the 21-year old record at the Virginia Challenge. The sophomore stud broke former 49er Kenneth Svendsen's record of 13:52.76 in 2001. Scudder came in second in the men's 5k and finished first overall in the men's 10k, clocking a time of 30:40.83 in the Conference USA Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Last season he Qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries in the 5000m and 10,000m and punched his ticket to nationals in Eugene in the 10,000m, where he placed seventh with a P.R. of 28:54.64, which broke the school record for the second time. Senior Paul Arredondo led the men's 5k with a time of 14:20.31 in the C-USA Championships. Arredondo qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries last season in the 10,000m and placed 26th with a time of 29:53.64.
• Women's Javelin (Elizabeth Bailey): Freshmen Elizabeth Bailey placed second overall in the women's javelin with a P.B. throw of 51.09m to break her own record at the C-USA Championships.
• Women's Pole Vault (Sarah Brown): Sophomore Sarah Brown set a new facility and school record in the pole vault at the season-opening Charlotte 49er Classic. Brown cleared 4.20m in the pole vault to break her own school record and establish a new facility record. Brown qualified for the 2021 NCAA Finals in the event as a freshman, as she cleared her previous record of 4.17 at the 2021 NCAA East preliminaries. She broke the facility record of 4.15 that had stood since 2002.
• Women's 4x400m Relay (Ya-Sha-Rah Brathwaite, Ta-Halia Fairman, JaNeya Hammond, Maya Singletary): Charlotte's 4x400 squad ranks No. 2 on Charlotte's all-time list with a time of 3:36.90. The women claimed a thrilling victory by winning the 4x400 relay in the meet's final event to overtake second-place UTSA by three points.
• Women's 400m (Maya Singletary): Junior Maya Singletary defended her 2021 title as she posted a 52.09 in the women's 400-meter, making her the first repeat 400m champion since Lana Garner of Tulane won in 1998 and 1999 in the C-USA Championships. Last season, Singletary qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries in the 400m and placed 24th with a time of 53.34.
• Women's 100 & 200 (Ta-Halia Fairman): Ta-Halia Fairman won the C-USA women's 100-meter and 200-meter races with times of 11.48 and 23.34. Fairman, who also won the indoor 200-meter earlier this year, raced to a time of 11.48 in the 100-meter and clocked a 23.34 in the 200 to complete the day. She is the first C-USA athlete to win both events since 2017. Fairman also ran a leg of Charlotte's winning 4x400m relay, which clinched the team title for the women, and the second-place 4x100m relay. Fairman qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries in the 100m and 200m last season.
• Women's 10k (Louise Lounes, Alina Rovnak) & 5k (Louise Lounes): Sophomore Louise Lounes qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries last season in the 10,000m and placed 29th with a time of 35:06.87. She dropped a huge .21 second P.R. in the women's 5K, clocking in a time of 16:14.01 at the Virginia Challenge. Lounes moves from No. 8 to No. 2 in Charlotte history. She took second in the women's 10k with a time of 35:24.17 at the C-USA Championships, earning her second-straight All-Conference honor after finishing third last season. At the Virginia Challenge, freshman Alina Rovnak ran an incredible debut with an even split of 34:19.89. Rovnak sits at No. 6 on Charlotte's all-time list, with four current 49ers ranking in the top 8 spots in program history.
Original source can be found here.
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