March 8, 2008

Complete Results

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - A trio of University of Northern Iowa athletes improved their qualifying marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational.

 

Senior Terrance Reid shaved two hundredths of a second off his previous season-best time in the 400 meters, lowering his NCAA provisional qualifying mark to 46.97 seconds.

 

Sophomore Dorian Ulrey also improved his NCAA qualifying time in the 800 meters, trimming more than 1 1/2 seconds off his previous best time by recording a 1:49.13.

 

Also, senior Jarrel Anderson improved his chances of qualifying for the national meet by lowering his season-best time in the 60 hurdles to 7.88 seconds and winning the event by .11 seconds.

 

Along with that progress, the Panthers also experienced a serious setback in the men's 4x400 relay. UNI's attempt to improve its qualifying time in the event ended with the Panthers failing to finish when second-leg runner Cory Goos pulled a muscle while leading the field and was unable to continue in the race. Ryan Grenko had led off the Panthers' effort with a stellar 46.5-second opening leg, but teammates Tyler Mulder and Terrance Reid never touched the baton.

 

UNI's season-best time of 3:08.98 will serve as its best chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, as the Panthers entered the weekend with the 16th-fastest time nationally. Last year, a total of 17 teams were accepted into the national meet for the 4x400.

 

A number of Panther athletes will learn if they have qualified for the national meet when the NCAA announces the field on Monday evening. Three UNI athletes are assured of making the trip based on automatic qualifying marks, including Mulder (men's 800 meters), senior Raven Cepeda (men's heptathlon) and senior Rachel Jansen (women's shot put).

 

The NCAA Indoor Championships begin Friday, March 14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.