University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
NCAA East Regional
Huskies Advance Five In Prelims At NCAA Regionals
5/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 27, 2011
Saturday Live Webstream | | Start Lists | NCAA Championship Central
Schedule of Events in PDF Format 
STORRS, Conn. - The UConn women's track and field team competed in day one of the NCAA Regionals in Bloomington, Ind. on Thursday, May 26 and advanced five student-athletes to the next round. Freshman Lauren Sara broke the school record in the 10,000m and qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Friday's events have a live webstream through the link at the top of the page.
 | "This was a perfect day for the UConn distance program with both 800m specialists advancing along with Lauren Sara in the 10K and Leah Andrianos in the 1,500m. Leah timed her season peak perfectly this year. On paper, she probably wasn't supposed to advance in her event but we all knew she was capable of running the way she did. It's amazing to have this many runners advance on day one and we are really excited for the next rounds to start." - Distance Coach Andrea Grove-McDonough |
UConn had seven student-athletes compete on the first day of the NCAA Regionals with five advancing to the next round.
Sara ran a personal-best 33:51.21 and lowered the school record from 34:09.49. With the results from the West Regionals in as well, Sara became the only freshman in the country to advance to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Sara will run in the NCAA Championship at 9:45 p.m. Eastern Time on June 8.
"Lauren ran a perfect strategic race. She reacted well to every move made by her opponents. With 500-600m remaining, she saved her race by avoiding a collision with a runner who went down and finished strong to place that high. This is something we knew she could do and we are really excited for her," said distance coach Andrea Grove-McDonough.
Senior All-American Trisha-Ann Hawthorne ran 11.55 in the 100m, placing second in her heat of the 100m. That time puts her at ninth overall heading into the NCAA Quarterfinals. Hawthorne's top time in 2011 is 11.31 which she registered at the BIG EAST Championships. Hawthorne will run the 100m quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Friday.
Hawthorne will also run in the first round of the 200m beginning at 8 p.m.
Both 800m specialists Heather Wilson and Brigitte Mania placed third in their respective heats and advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday night at 6:30. Wilson, a junior All-American, ran 2:08.40 while sophomore All-American Brigitte Mania ran 2:09.29.
Senior All-American Leah Andrianos ran a personal-record 4:22.14 and placed second in her heat and fifth overall in the 1,500m prelims. Andrianos came into the race ranked 46th overall. Andrianos will run in the 1,500m quarterfinals on Saturday beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Sophomore Whitney Holder and freshman Celina Emerson failed to qualify for the next round. Emerson had a false start in the 400m. Holder reached 5.90m (19' 4.25") in the long jump but placed 25th. The top 12 advanced.
UConn seniors Tynisha McMillian and Meghan Cunningham will both compete in their respective events on Friday. McMillian will compete in the shot put beginning at 1 p.m. while Cunningham will run the 3,000m steeple chase starting at 8:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
