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SAN FRANCISCO —The final declarations are made, the heat sheets are released and the USF track team is ready to take its largest group of qualifiers in school history to the NCAA Western Regional Meet.
The meet begins on May 26th at Hayward Field in Eugene, OR and goes through Saturday, Mary 28th.
"At this meet it's all about advancing to the next round," USF coach Helen Lehman-Winters said. "It takes a high level of patience, discipline and ability to be competitive and to run hard in the latter stages of a race. Runners have to be able to manage the emotion of the event."
Junior Nicole Bowler and freshman Sophie Curl will be the first Dons to race. The four women's 1,500 heats begin at 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, May 26. Each heat consists of 12 runners. The top five finishers in each heat, plus the next four fastest times advance to the quarterfinals, which take place at 1:30 p.m on Saturday, May 28.
Bowler, who enters the weekend with the 26th fastest qualifying time, advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1,500 at the 2009 NCAA Western Regional meet. Curl holds the 30th fastest time.
Later that night, freshman Jana Stolting will run her 10,000 meter race at 7:10 pm. The top 12 finishers out of the field of 48 runners advance to the NCAA Championship Meet, which takes place June 8-11 in Des Moines, IA. Stolting is seeded 28th in the field.
"It's the first time Jana and Sophie will run in the postseason in track, but they both really enjoy racing and are super competitive, which I think will make them very effective in this venue," Lehman-Winters said.
Sophomore Eva Krchova doesn't take to the track until 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 27. The 3,000 meter steeplechase field is divided into three heats. The top three finishers from each heat and next three fastest times advance to the NCAA Championships. Krchova is seeded fifth.
"Last year, Eva wasn't expected to even move on, but she's in a very different position this year," Lehman-Winters said. "She needed to run big to advance to the NCAA Championship Meet last spring, but this year she just needs to turn in a good, strong performance in regionals and then run big at the NCAA Championships. She's definitely a notch ahead of where she was last year."
Krchova finished sixth at last year's Western Regionals to become the first USF track athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championship Meet. She advanced to the steeplechase finals where she finished 13th.
