May 25, 2007

PRINCESS ANNE, MD - Several members of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) track and field team will compete at 2007 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's East Regional Track & Field Championships, scheduled for Friday, May 25 and Saturday, May 26 at James G. Pressly Stadium at Percy Beard Track in Gainesville, Fla. Eight individuals have qualified for the competition, which will be hosted by the University of Florida.

Ronnie Beard, Kimani Kirton and Peter Sang have all qualified on the men's side while Sherita Harriott, Merrecia James, Danieth Pryce, Tanisha Wisdom and Dionne Wright all made the regional field on the women's side.

Beard, James and Pryce will compete in two events apiece this weekend. Beard qualified for the 110m hurdles (14.21) at Morgan State's Legacy Meet on April 21 and posted a qualifying time of 51.70 in the 400m hurdles at the MEAC Outdoor Championships.

James improved on her NCAA Regional qualifying time in the 800m run when she crossed the line with a new school record of 2:09.20 at Georgia Tech's Last Chance Meet on May 12. She originally qualified for Regionals on April 21 at the Legacy Meet. The freshman will also compete in the 5000m run after posting a first place finish and new conference mark of 17:41.41 at the MEAC Outdoor Championships.

Pryce qualified for the women's 100m dash at the Charlotte Invitational on March 31 after crossing the line in 11.74. She ran a second place preliminary time of 23.95 in the 200m dash at the conference championships to qualify for that event.

Kirton will compete in the men's shot put after qualifying at the Charlotte Invite with a throw of 17.24m (56'7"). The senior improved on his mark later in the season and threw a new school mark of 18.37m (60'3") at the Legacy meet.

Sang qualified for the men's 3000m steeplechase with his first place finish in 9:32.08 at the MEAC Championships. The freshman also set a new conference record with that mark.

Harriott took second in the women's javelin throw (43.90m or 144') the same weekend to qualify for Regionals.

Wright is set to compete in the women's shot put after she threw a qualifying mark of 14.60m (47'11") at Morgan's Legacy Meet on April 21. Wisdom qualified for the 400m run that same day when she crossed the line in 53.91.

The East Region, the largest of the four NCAA Regions, is comprised of colleges and universities from Connecticut, Washington DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. Over 1,000 athletes representing 300 colleges and universities will compete for a chance to advance to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. on June 6-9. The top five finishers in each event automatically qualify for Nationals while the top 12 are considered for an at-large bid.

Click here to see the list of events this weekend
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