NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round to be lined with Golden Flashes
5/16/2013 12:00:00โฏAM | Track and Field, Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
KENT, Ohio โ The Kent State track and field teams will be well represented during the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round running May 23-25 at North Carolina A&T State University's Irwin Belk Track in Greensboro, N.C.ย The Golden Flashes will have 22 student-athletes competing in 23 events as announced today (May 16) by the NCAA selection committee.
Forty-eight student-athletes in individual events and 24 teams in relay events will compete at each of the preliminary round sites, Greensboro, N.C. in the East and Austin, Tex. in the West.ย The top 12 competitors in each individual event and top 12 teams in each relay event from each of the preliminary round sites advance to the NCAA Finals June 5-8 hosted by the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
Kent State's women's team, fresh off its fourth straight Mid-American Conference championship on May 11 at the University of Akron, has a bevy of talent making the trip to Greensboro.
Leading the way is freshman Dior Delophont (Nancy, France), who qualified in the high jump and the triple jump.ย Delophont, the Outdoor MAC champ in both events, is ranked 13th in the high jump at 6 feet and 28th in the triple jump at 41-8.ย She was an All-American in both events during the Indoor season in March.
The Flashes also have preliminary round qualifiers and MAC champs in freshman Hannah Fleck (Celina, Ohio) in the 1,500 meters; sophomore Roseanne Erickson (Alexandria, Minn.) in the long jump; junior Joh'vonnie Mosley (Youngstown, Ohio) in the shot put; and senior Sara Oczypok (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in the javelin throw.ย
Fleck is ranked 45th at 4 minutes, 24.22 seconds; Erickson is 18th at 20-4.25; Mosley is 15th at 52-9.25; and Oczypok is 17th at 156-5.
Junior Shanequa Williams (Akron, Ohio) qualified in the 200 and the 400.ย Williams is ranked 43rd in the 200 at 23.84 and 45th in the 400 at 54.35.
Sophomore Ann Marie Duffus (North Clarendon, Jamaica) and freshman Danniel Thomas (Shrewsbery, Jamaica) each also qualified in a pair of events.ย
Duffus is ranked 45th in 13.68 in the 100 hurdles and 47th in 19-10.75 in the long jump.ย Thomas is 11th in the discus at 172-8 and 21st in the shot put at 51-2.75.
Sophomore Jackie Leppelmeier (McComb, Ohio), the Kent State record holder, is 14th at 199-5 in the hammer throw.
Also qualifying to Greensboro on the women's side are senior Melinda Sawnor (Rochester, N.Y.) in the 800, 36th at 2:07.47; senior Domenica Rossi (Middleburg Heights, Ohio) in the pole vault, 24th at 13-1.75; and junior C.J. Carlisle (Garrettsville, Ohio) in the javelin, 18th at 155-11.
Sophomore Matthias Tayala (McDonald, Ohio) leads a strong contingent on the men's team, which is coming off a third straight runner-up finish in the MAC.ย Tayala, the MAC hammer throw champ, is ranked 4th in that event at 217-9 and is 16th in the discus at 185-7.ย
Four other MAC champs on the men's team will be competing at the East prelims as well with senior Brian Florek (Matawan, N.J.) in the javelin; senior Brandon Bailey (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in the 400; sophomore Jacob Swords (Akron, Ohio) in the 800; and freshman Wayne Gordon (Amherst, N.Y.) in the 200.
Florek is 18th in the javelin at 223-5; Bailey is 36th in the 400 at 47.21; Swords is 40th in the 800 at 1:49.93; and Gordon is 44th in the 200 at 21.00.
Freshman Reggie Jagers (Cleveland, Ohio) is 20th in the discus at 183-8.
The Flashes have four other qualifiers on the men's side including sophomore Miles Dunlap (McDonald, Ohio) in the 400 hurdles, 37th at 52.43; freshman Cody Jones (Canton, Ohio) in the high jump; 37th at 6-10.75; freshman Jesse Oxley (Sugar Grove, Ohio) in the pole vault, 32nd at 16-8.75; and freshman Michael King (Salem, Ohio) in the shot put, 46th at 56-2.5.
Click here for more information on the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
