Tar Heels Wrap Up Day Two At NCAA East Prelims

Friday, May 24

Jacksonville, Fla.

All Day

North Carolina

NCAA East Preliminary Round

Anna Keefer

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

May 24, 2019 | Track & Field

Live Results Watch ($)Schedule

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The North Carolina track and field team wrapped up day two of the NCAA East Preliminary Round on the campus of the University of North Florida at Hodges Stadium on Friday.

"So far, it's been a great meet for us," head coach Harlis Meaders said. "The kids are competing really hard against a lot of incredible talent. The East Region is the biggest of the two regions with over 380 colleges, but I think our kids are handling the pressure well. I was really excited to see Emerson Porter have a lifetime best in the women's pole vault at this championship meet. It shows how much she's matured and grown throughout the season and I think Coach Hostler has done a great job bringing her around. Anna Keefer continued her really long weekend — she's competed in more events than anyone else, taking on the long jump, the 100 and the 200. She ran right at her lifetime best in the 100 with little to no wind assistance against an excellent field. She's great. Obviously, she had a significant impact for us at the conference meet and she's continued to show improvement. I think next year will be another breakthrough year for her and we'll get her back to the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Championships."

Daniel McArthur, a junior from Mooresville, N.C., made his first appearance of the weekend and finished 39th in the men's discus with a mark of 154-1 (50.03 meters). McArthur will compete in the final heat of the men's shot put (2:45 p.m.) on Saturday in hopes of securing his first NCAA Outdoor Championship bid. The Tar Heel thrower earned a historic finish at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in the men's shot put, placing fourth for Carolina's best-ever NCAA finish in the men's event.

Sophomore Emerson Porter and senior Anna Eaton each wrapped up their seasons with top-20 regional finishes in the women's pole vault at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. Porter, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C. who was originally seeded 34th in the competition, cleared a lifetime-best height of 13-4 1/4 (4.07 meters) for 17th place while Eaton, a senior from Cary, N.C., placed 18th with a height of 12-10 1/4 (3.92 meters).

Sophomore Anna Keefer made two event appearances on Friday evening to close out 2019. Keefer, a native of St. Michael Albertville, Minn., clocked the second-best time of her career (11.47 seconds) in the women's 100-meter quarterfinal to place 19th in the region. The Minnesota native also finished 31st in the first round of the women's 200 meters with another second-best time of her career, 23.71 seconds.

Redshirt junior Jared Martin was the third student-athlete to hang up the Carolina uniform after throwing 193-11 (59.12 meters) to finish 39th in the men's javelin competition.

"All of the kids who are finishing up — Alex Cooke, Anna Eaton and Jared Martin — have been to the East Preliminary Round before, but more importantly, they are all really phenomenal kids," Meaders said. "They've each been with us for a different number of years, but all of them has matured and grown during their time with our program. All of them have earned All-ACC honors and Anna qualified for the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships which goes to show how much they've contributed to the team. It's hard to say goodbye to those kinds of kids because they've meant so much to the program, but the other side of the coin, we have so many young kids here in Jacksonville coming back next year. I think the program is in really good hands and the youth movement is on. I think that the expectation of getting to the NCAA Preliminary Round has been really well established by this young group. The sophomores — Jill Shippee, Anna Keefer, redshirt freshman Madison Wiltrout and others — have come in and really elevated the expectations. I think everybody wants to be here again so they'll go back to Chapel Hill and help us get more kids to not only this round but also to the final round."

Like Alex Cooke, Emily Malone and Maiah Walker on day one, Martin, Eaton, Porter and Keefer finished higher than their original seedings in each of their events.

"It was a lot of fun having Daniel compete in the men's discus today," Meaders said. "We don't do it very often, but we always enjoy the opportunity. Really looking forward to all of our competitions tomorrow. Daniel has been looking good in practice and we are looking for success in the shot put ring and you'll have a chance to see the men's 4x400 who have been waiting here since Tuesday. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part, but hopefully it's another opportunity to shine. We'll also have Alex Milligan and Brandon Tubby compete in the 1,500. Both of those kids ran well yesterday and they're anxious to get back on the track. I think they have a realistic chance of making the finals and advancing to Austin, so we'll continue to improve and we'll have some more kids punch tickets to Austin on the final day."

HOW TO FOLLOW
NCAA track and field fans can watch live and on-demand coverage of the NCAA Division I East and/or West Preliminary Championships on FloTrack with a Pro subscription. Coverage of the preliminary competitions will be available May 23-25. Live results for the entire weekend will be available courtesy of FlashResults.com.

A full schedule of events, heat sheets and a link to live results are also available at GoHeels.com.

Fans can follow @unctrack_field on Twitter and Instagram for live updates throughout the meet. UNC Track & Field is also on Facebook. A recap of performances and results will be posted on GoHeels.com following the conclusion of each day of competition.

Watch ($) | Live Results | Schedule of Events (PDF) | Meet Notes (PDF) | Start Lists (Women) | Start Lists (Men)

SATURDAY'S CAROLINA COMPETITORS
Men
Daniel McArthur – Shot Put, Discus
McArthur, a junior from Mooresville, N.C., will be making his third appearance in the men's shot put and his second in the discus at the NCAA East Prelims. McArthur is seeded 11th in the East with his shot put mark of 62-8 (19.10 meters) and 35th in the discus with his mark of 176-11 (53.92 meters). McArthur finished fourth in the men's shot put at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, the best finish by a men's shot putter in the history of UNC track & field.

WHEN TO WATCH
Shot Put – Saturday, 2:45 p.m.

Brandon Tubby – 1,500m
Tubby, a junior from Hillsborough, N.J., will be making his first appearance in the NCAA East Prelims. His lifetime-best time of 3:44.42 at the 2019 ACC Outdoor Championships earned him a fourth-place finish in the men's 1,500 meters as well as All-ACC honors in his first-ever championship final. His performance is seeded 15th in the East Region.

WHEN TO WATCH
Saturday, 6:45 p.m. (Quarterfinal)

Alex Milligan – 1,500m
Milligan, a junior from State College, Pa., will make his second appearance at the NCAA East Prelims. Milligan clocked a season-best performance of 3:44.98 to place fifth in the men's 1,500 meters at the 2019 ACC Championships, earning him the first All-ACC accolade of his career. His time is seeded for 26th in the East Region in 2019.

WHEN TO WATCH
Saturday, 6:45 p.m. (Quarterfinal)

4x400 Relay
Carolina is sending a men's 4x400 team to the NCAA East Preliminary Round for the tenth-straight season. The Tar Heels captured the ACC title in the event for the second-consecutive year and for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Carolina's best men's 4x400 time of the season (3:07.43) is seeded 14th in the East Region.

WHEN TO WATCH
Saturday, 9:45 p.m.