University of Connecticut Athletics
Women's Track & Field NCAA Championship Preview
6/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
June 8, 2010
STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut women's track and field team will make its way to Eugene, Ore. this week for the 2010 NCAA Championship at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.
Five Huskies will compete in four events for the UConn program, which has been ranked No. 1 in the Northeast for a majority of the outdoor season. Mandela Graves-Fulgham, Trisha-Ann Hawthorne and Emma Crowcroft will compete in their respective individual events, while Graves-Fulgham and Hawthorne will join Phylicia George and Kristen Brown to represent the Huskies in the 4x100 meter relay.
"I am very excited about our representation at nationals," said head coach Bill Morgan. "Our blend of veterans and freshmen speak to our tradition in terms of continuing national exposure on an annual basis. Trisha leads the charge with Mandella being the individual involved in the most championships among the group. These young ladies are the elite of the team. I would anticipate their best performances."
"We are excited and proud to represent the University at the National Championship this week," said associate head coach Clive Terrelonge. "We are eager for the opportunity since we have trained all year and competed all year to get to this level. We are also very excited to take advantage of this opportunity to go up against the best in the country. The sprinters have competed well all year up to this point and the expectation is high, we don't expect anything less than them competing at their best at this championship."
"The University of Connecticut will be represented well at this competition," added Terrelonge.
A CLOSER LOOK AT Mandela Graves-Fulgham:
As a redshirt senior, Graves-Fulgham has engraved her name into the UConn record books as she has continually sets records in the 400 meter, breaking previous marks she has set herself. The Shutesbury, Mass. native will compete in the 400 meter at the NCAA Championship in Oregon as she holds UConn's school record time in the event at 53.05, which she set at the NCAA East Regional on May 27 in Greensboro, N.C.
This will be Graves-Fulgham's first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championship after competing in the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championship in College Station, Texas. The senior has ran well for the Huskies during the 2010 outdoor season as she earned the BIG EAST and ECAC titles in the 400 meter as well as the 4x100 meter relay. She was a BIG EAST scorer in the 200, 400, 1x100 meter relay and the 4x100 meter relay. At the ECAC Championship, Graves-Fulgham was the anchor leg of the Huskies' 4x100 relay, which set a meet record in the event with a winning time of 44.43.
The senior qualified in the 100, 200, 400 and 4x100 relay for the NCAA East Regional before earning NCAA Automatic Qualifier status in the 400 meter and 4x100 meter relay for competition in Eugene, Ore. While at the East Regional, Graves-Fulgham set a UConn record in the 400 (53.05). She continues to run well for the Huskies' relay as UConn's 4x100 meter relay finished sixth in the East and 11th in the country.
A CLOSER LOOK AT Trisha-Ann Hawthorne:
Trisha-Ann Hawthorne has been leading the UConn women's track and field team since she began her career with the Huskies as a freshman in 2007. Hawthorne, who has qualified for the NCAA Championship in Eugene in the 100 meter dash as well as the 4x100 meter relay, will make her third straight NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance in 2010. The Elmsford, N.Y. native was the first UConn sprinter to qualify for the NCAA Championships in two events back in 2008, during her freshman campaign in outdoor competition.
A UConn record holder in both the 100 meter and 200 meter, Hawthorne finished third in her heat in the 100m with a time of 11.40 and took eighth overall to advance her to Eugene. Hawthorne was a BIG EAST and ECAC Champion in the 100m, 200m and 4x100 meter relay during the 2010 outdoor season, while she was named the BIG EAST as well as the ECAC Most Outstanding Women's Track Athlete of the Meet. Just recently, she was named the 2010 Northeast Track Athlete of the Year, joining head coach Bill Morgan and associate head coach Clive Terrelonge among those who earned regional honors last week.
Hawthorne's success this season included setting a new program record at the ECAC Championship in the 200m at 23.30 and combining with her relay group in the 4x100m to set an ECAC Championship Meet record of 44.43. She will compete in Eugene as an NCAA Automatic Qualifier in the 100 meter as well as the 4x100 meter relay as UConn's 4x100 relay finished sixth in the East and 11th in the country.
IT'S A GROUP EFFORT:
UConn's 4x100 meter relay has combined for much success during the 2010 outdoor season. The relay team that finished sixth in the East and 11th in the country will compete in Eugene, Ore. after finishing with a time of 44.48 to earn the right to compete at the NCAA Championship. The group took third in their heat at the East Regional to place sixth overall.
Hawthorne and Graves-Fulgham will join Phylicia George and Kristen Brown in the 4x100 meter relay. This relay group set a meet record in the event with a winning time of 44.43 at the ECAC Championship earlier this season. They also set an ECAC Championship record at The Penn Relays.
FRESHMAN MAKING AN IMPACT:
UConn freshman Emma Crowcroft qualified for the NCAA Championship in Eugene in her specialty event, the javelin. Her mark of 156'2" (47.60 meters) put her in sixth place at the NCAA East Regional to advance the first-year competitor to the national meet. A New Milford, Conn. native, Crowcroft came to Connecticut after an impressive career at New Milford High School, where she not only excelled in her events but in the classroom as well. This season at UConn, her best mark in the javelin came at the UConn Invitational on April 2 when she threw for a season-best 48.23 meters.
Crowcroft is also the top-ranked freshman in country in the javelin. She is one of two freshmen competing at nationals in the event and has improved nearly 30 feet from her best high school performance.
CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION:
The 2010 NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore. will begin on Wednesday, June 9 and will continue through Saturday, June 12. UConn will have five student-athletes competing in four events, led off by the Huskies 4x100 meter relay, which will compete in the National semifinals on Wednesday at 4:15 p.m. (PST).
Graves-Fulgham will run in the 400 meter semifinals at 5:15 p.m. (PST), while Hawthorne will run in the 100 meter dash semifinals at 6:00 p.m. (PST). On Friday, June 11 the finals for both the 100 meter and 400 meter will take place at 5:32 p.m. (PST) and 6:32 p.m. (PST), respectively.
To conclude the competition on Saturday, Crowcroft will compete in the javelin trials and finals, which will take place at 9:30 a.m. (PST). The Huskies 4x100 meter relay, if they advance on from the semifinals, will compete at 10:03 a.m. (PST) in the finals of that event.
Click here for the entire NCAA Championship Schedule.
Players Mentioned
