March 8, 2010
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Selections for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships were released Monday night by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee with the South Carolina track and field programs earning 11 entries. The event takes place Friday-Saturday, March 12-13, in Fayetteville, Ark., at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
The 20th-ranked men’s team earned five entries to the championships in sprinters Antonio Sales and Obakeng Ngwigwa, hurdlers Booker Nunley and Johnny Dutch and weight throw participant Michael Zajac.
The 23rd-ranked women’s team earned six entries in pentathlete Kettiany Clarke and sprinters Brandi Cross, Lakya Brookins, Gabrielle Glenn and Nadonnia Rodrigues. The 4x400m relay team of Cross, Rodrigues, Glenn and Breehana Jacobs earned a bid.
For the men, Nunley earned his bid via an automatic qualifying time of 7.68 in the 60-meter hurdles that he ran at the SEC Championships, a time that ranks fifth nationally. Provisional qualifiers for the field include Dutch who ran a top mark of 7.79 last week at Virginia Tech to jump to 14th on the national list. Sales is heading to the championships for the third straight season with a top time of 20.88 in the 200-meter dash run at the conference championships, and Ngwigwa ran an indoor collegiate best 46.54 at the SEC meet in the 400-meter to make the field. In the field events, Zajac will look to earn All-America honors for the second consecutive season as he enters the weight throw ranked sixth in the nation at 69’8 (21.23m).
Defending NCAA champion, current SEC champion and No. 1 ranked short sprinter in the NCAA, Lakya Brookins, headlines the women’s team. Brookins ran 7.18 to claim the SEC 60-meter dash title two week ago and has the world’s eighth-fastest time in the event this year. Glenn also made the field with a top time of 6.35. Provisional qualifiers for the field include Clarke, a redshirt senior who has battled injuries throughout her career before claiming the 2010 SEC title in the pentathlon with 4,064 points, a mark that ranks No. 7 in the NCAA. Seven-time All-American Brandi Cross made the field in the 400-meter dash at 53.34, and Rodrigues ran 53.40 in the event last week to make the field. The relay team of Cross, Rodrigues, Glenn and Jacobs jumped to sixth nationally last week with a time of 3:34.62 to make the field.
Additional athletes may travel as alternates for the relay team.
SOUTH CAROLINA NCAA DECLARATIONS – MEN
Name – Event – Competition Day/Time
Johnny Dutch – 60m Hurdles – Friday/5:25 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Obakeng Ngwigwa – 400m Dash – Friday/5:55 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Booker Nunley – 60m Hurdles – Friday/5:25 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Antonio Sales – 200m Dash – Friday/7:25 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Michael Zajac – Weight Throw – Saturday/11:30 a.m. (CT)
SOUTH CAROLINA NCAA DECLARATIONS – WOMEN
Name – Event – Competition Day/Time
Lakya Brookins – 60m Dash – Friday/6:40 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Kettiany Clarke – Pentathlon – Saturday/11:30 a.m. (CT)
Brandi Cross – 400m Dash – Friday/6:10 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Gabrielle Glenn – 60m Dash – Friday/6:40 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
Nadonnia Rodrigues – 400m Dash – Friday/6:10 p.m. (CT) PRELIMS
4x400m Relay – Saturday/8:40 p.m. (CT)
