North Carolina
NCAA Indoor Championships
Tar Heels Qualify For Finals At NCAA Championships
March 11, 2011 | Track & Field
March 11, 2011
COLLEGE STATION, Texas- Two Carolina runners qualified for finals on the first day of competition at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas. Junior Ashley Verplank qualified in the women's one mile, and senior Charles Cox made it through in the men's 400 meters.
Verplank had a huge time drop, cutting nearly three seconds off her best time, to finish fourth in the mile prelim heats with a time of 4:36.87 and claim the second-best time in Carolina history. This is Verplank's first time competing at the NCAA Indoor meet.
Cox, competing for his third time at the indoor national championships, grabbed eighth in the men's 400 trials with a time of 46.61, which gives him the fifth-best time in school history. Cox is the only ACC athlete who will compete in Saturday's finals in that event.
Three other Tar Heels competed Friday. Senior Mateo Sossah, the 2010 NCAA Indoor runner up in the heptathlon, competed in the first day of the men's multi event, finishing the day in 13th after five of the eight events. Senior Parker Smith finished 13th in the men's pole vault with a height of 17-2 3/4, senior Patience Coleman took 12th in the women's high jump (5-10), and senior LaToya finished 13th in the women's 60-meter hurdles in 8.30.
In addition to Cox, Verplank and Sossah's events tomorrow, freshman Sandi Morris will be competing in the women's pole vault.
With the number of finalists Carolina has so far, the Tar Heels have a good chance of improving on their men's T-20th and women's T-56th place finishes at the 2010 Indoor championships.
Saturday's competition will be broadcast on NCAA.com from noon-4:55 p.m., and by ESPN3.com from 5p.m.-7 p.m. Live results will also be available throughout the day at FlashResults.com.
Players Mentioned
