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May 21, 2009
A total of nine IUP track and field athletes - six men and three women - will compete at the NCAA outdoor championships which gets under way Thursday in San Angelo, Texas. The group is led by Maddy Outman, who is entered in three events. Outman is seeded fifth nationally in the heptathlon with 4,975 points, the highest ranking of any Crimson Hawk athlete entering the meet. Outman is also ninth in the 100 meter hurdles (14.04) and 15th in the 400 meter hurdles (1:01.82). Outman is trying to join Becky Bullard in 2003 as the only two IUP women to earn All-America status in the multi events. Bullard was seventh in the heptathlon in 2003. Outman was an indoor All-American in the pentathlon in March. The other two IUP women to qualify for nationals are Brianna Liebold in the triple jump and Tiffany Corle in the javelin. Liebold is 18th in the country in the triple jump with a top jump of 38 feet, 9 3/4 inches this season. IUP has never had a woman All-American in the event. Corle is 16th nationally in the javelin with a throw of 135-4. Corle is joined in the javelin on the men's side by Russ Langley, whose top throw of 199-2 has him seeded 13th. Corle and Langley will be trying to continue IUP's strong history in the javelin. Twenty different IUP javelin throwers have been All-Americans dating back to 1972, a list that includes 16 men and four women. Nafee Harris and Kevin Raymond top the list of IUP men's qualifiers, with both competing in an individual event and teaming with Hopeton Bailey and Tristan Taylor in the 4x100 meter relay. Harris, an indoor All-American in the long jump earlier this season, is seeded seventh in the outdoor version of the event with a mark of 24-3 3/4. Raymond earned a berth in the 400 meters with his time of 46.80 placing him 10th in the country. Ben Hatch moved into the national meet on the strength of his winning time of 1:51.84 in the 800 meters at the PSAC meet. The 4x100 meter relay team of Harris, Raymond, Bailey and Taylor had the seventh fastest time in the nation this season, running a 40.69 in the prelims of the event at the PSAC meet. IUP has not had an All-America relay team since the 1977 mile relay team did so at the NAIA meet. |
