Caine and Stokowska to Compete in Day Two of NCAA Championships
6/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. Four of the five Kent State University track and field athletes competed for the Golden Flashes today, June 7, at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Senior Chris Caine (Munroe Falls, Ohio/Toledo) is 11th in the decathlon after five events. Unable to qualify for the preliminaries tomorrow was long jumper Phil Rickaby (Jr., N.S.W., Australia/Winamalee), hammer thrower Andy Nicholas (Jr., Sylvania, Ohio/Sylvania North) and javelin thrower Bekah Stoltz (Fr., Saugerties, N.Y./Columbia Falls).
This was the first year that these four have competed at the national level, said head coach Bill Lawson. They really did an outstanding job and represented Kent State well.
After being allowed into the NCAA Championships as the last at-large selection out of 26 decathletes, Caine has moved to the 11th position with 3,748 points. He turned in personal-record performances in the long jump with a leap of 22-6 ¼ and the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.77.
Chris has a really good feeling about himself going into the rest of the events tomorrow. Hes prepared to show up and battle all day and give it everything hes got, Lawson said.
Caines career-best score in the decathlon is 7,127 points. In this years indoor and outdoor seasons, he won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) titles in the heptathlon (5,097) and the decathlon (6,904). Caine is second in the heptathlon on the Kent State All-Time List and third in the decathlon.
Rickaby took 13th in the qualifying round of the long jump with a mark of 24-9, one spot short of moving on to the next round. With his season-best mark of 25-1 ¾, Rickaby was originally ranked 20th in the country.
It was a heartbreaker for Phil and all of us. He missed advancing by an inch, said Lawson. I dont think that anyone a year ago, when Phil was going through knee surgery, would have believed that one year later he would be 13th in the nation. I told him to keep his head up and that I wasnt disappointed in him, I was disappointed for him. Hes an impressive athlete. Hes had a great season with 11 jumps better than the personal record he set last season. My hat is off to him and his competitive nature.
Nicholas finished 24th in the hammer with a toss of 198-9 and Stoltz was 14th in the javelin with a throw of 153-8, only two feet off the qualifying mark.
Caine will be the first Golden Flash competing tomorrow, June 9, at Sacramento State Universitys Hornet Stadium. He will continue the combined events at 10 a.m. with the 100-meter dash. Senior Dominika Stokowska (Lodz, Poland/Lodzki University) will be running the first round of the 400-meter hurdles at 4:10 p.m.
