web Charlotte

May 30, 2009

COMPLETE RESULTS

GREENSBORO, N.C. – On the final day of the NCAA East Regional Championships, Lamarra Currie, Aja Jackson and Darius Law each picked up automatic berths to the NCAA Championships with top five finishes in the finals. Law’s finish in the 400 meter dash snapped his own school record in the event.

Charlotte’s three automatic qualifiers are the most in program history. Senior Lamarra Currie got things started with an 11.64 second finish in the 100 meter dash finals to qualify for the NCAA Championships at Arkansas in June.

Currie’s fifth place finish matches her best ever finish at the regional championships. Her finish also earned her All-Region honors for the fourth time in her career and the second time in an individual event.

Currie would follow up her 100 meter qualifying performance with a fourth-place finish in the 200 meter dash. Currie’s time of 23.99 was good enough to qualify the Apex, N.C. native for the NCAA Championships in her second event.

With the pair of NCAA qualifying performances, Currie became the first Charlotte runner since former All-American Shareese Woods to qualify for the NCAA’s in two individual events, with Woods accomplishing the feat in 2007. Currie’s three All-Region performances (100m, 200m and 4x100 relay) are the most for a Charlotte athlete in a single year in program history.

“I’ve been tired throughout the meet, but I knew I had to push through to accomplish what I wanted to do at the meet. It feels great to go back to NCAA’s. I picked up another event this year, and it seems like things just keep getting better every year,” said Currie.

In the men’s sprints, sophomore Darius Law owned the day for Charlotte by turning in an incredible performance in the 400 meter dash. Law took down his own school record by nearly three-tenths of a second with a time of 45.77 seconds. His finish in the event was good enough for fifth place.

Later in the evening, Law would finish eighth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.30 seconds. Law was the only competitor at the meet to compete in both the 200 meter and 400 meter final. Law will qualify with an at-large bid for NCAA’s in the event.

“I’m happy that everything has come together at the right time and that I’m peaking at this time in the season. I’m just really happy that things have come together at the right time. I was frustrated early in the year in the 400. To finally go under 45 is awesome,” said Law following the 400.

In the 800 meter run, senior Aja Jackson would finish fifth in a time of 2:07.65. Jackson’s time qualifies her for NCAA’s for the second time in her career.

Following the first lap of the race, Jackson was the race leader, before falling back only to roar back to fifth place and an NCAA automatic berth in the final 100 meters.

“Today was a great day for me. I was able to get in and qualify for NCAA’s. I would have liked to have won, but getting to NCAA’s is really important to me. Then rounding things out in the 4x400 was great,” said Jackson following the meet.

Sophomore Keara Thomas finished fifth in her heat of the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 10:50.83. Thomas’ time was good enough for 18th out of 46 competitors.

On the men’s side, sophomore Dakota Lowery finished tenth in his heat with a time of 9:30.20. Lowery’s time was good enough for 26th overall.

Charlotte’s 4x100 meter relay squad of Currie, Chalonda Silver, Sirrell Butler and Pat Springs on the took home an eighth place finish with a time of 44.87 seconds. Charlotte’s time is the sixth-best in school history and was a season-best for the squad.

The 4x400 meter relay finished second in their heat and eighth overall with a time of 3:40.63. Charlotte’s time in the event set a new PR for the season and is the third-best time in school history.

“We had a great day here for the 2nd day of the regional championship. Just as in day one our highly nationally ranked athletes not only got the job done but also secured automatic qualifiers leaving no doubt about their place in the national championship. It’s gratifying to leave the meet with your spot locked up and a more significant sense of accomplishment not having to wait to hear about at large bids,” said head coach Bob Olesen following the meet. “The regional concept was initiated to focus attention on head to head competition for advancement to nationals and our qualifiers certainly lived up to the intent of these regional championships and represented the school extremely well.”

In the team standings, Charlotte's women finished 12th out of 55 scoring teams while the men finished 33rd out of 51 scoring teams.

Charlotte’s NCAA qualifiers will be back in action from June 10-13 when they travel to Arkansas for the NCAA Championships.

Charlotte’s All-Region Performers:

Pat Springs: Long Jump – 5th
Sirrell Butler: Women’s 4x100 meter relay- 8th
Lamarra Currie: Women’s 4x100 meter relay- 8th
Chalonda Silver: Women’s 4x100 meter relay- 8th
Pat Springs: Women’s 4x100 meter relay- 8th
Lamarra Currie: 100 meter dash - 4th
Aja Jackson: 800 meter run – 4th
Darius Law: 400 meter dash – 5th
Lamarra Currie: 200 meter dash – 4th
Darius Law: 200 meter dash – 8th
Ebonie Cunningham: 4x400 meter relay - 8th
Olivia Brown; 4x400 meter relay - 8th
Aja Jackson: 4x400 meter relay - 8th
Kortnie Coleman: 4x400 meter relay - 8th