Men's 4x400 Punches UNC's Final Ticket To Austin

Saturday, May 25

Jacksonville, Fla.

All Day

North Carolina

NCAA East Preliminary Round

Ryan Saint-Germain men's 4x400 NCAA East

Ryan Saint-Germain passes the baton to Onyedikachi Ohia-Enyia in the men's 4x400.

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

May 26, 2019 | Track & Field

Complete Results

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The University of North Carolina track and field teams closed out the NCAA East Preliminary Round on Saturday with the men's 4x400 relay punching the Tar Heels' third and final ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas. The men's relay lineup of Isaiah Palmer, Ryan Saint-Germain, Onyedikachi Ohia-Enyia and Ari Cogdell clocked Carolina's fastest time of the season (3:05.44) to finish fourth in their heat and seventh overall.

"I'm really excited to have multiple athletes advance to the NCAA finals in Austin," head coach Harlis Meaders said. "The East Region is an extremely challenging region, but we had a couple of kids that really rose to the occasion. Nicole Greene and Madison Wiltrout did a fantastic job, and they're going to be joined by the men's 4x400 team which is a great entourage with two sophomores, a freshman and a junior on the today's relay. Those guys competed really hard, and after having so many kids come so close this week, it was really great to watch them fight, persevere and advance. I'm so excited for all of those kids."

The men's relay will join two other North Carolina student-athletes advancing to the final stage. A three-time All-American and the 2018 national champion in the women's indoor high jump, redshirt junior Nicole Greene (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) qualified for the first outdoor championships of her career with a height of 5-10 3/4 (1.80 meters). Redshirt freshman Madison Wiltrout (Connellsville, Pa.) punched her own ticket to Austin after throwing 169-7 (51.69 meters) in the women's javelin.

Greene and Wiltrout have both broken decades-long NCAA droughts for North Carolina in their respective events. Carolina's last women's high jumper to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships was Patience Coleman who placed ninth in 2008. The last time a women's javelin thrower advanced to the NCAA Championship meet was in 1997 when Emily Carlston finished fifth. In 2007, both Adam Montague and Justin Ryncavage qualified for NCAAs in the men's javelin competition after Ryncavage won the title in 2006. North Carolina most recently qualified for the championships in the men's 4x400 with Cory Nicholls, Ceo Ways, Kenny Selmon and Javonte Lipsey in 2016.

Out of Carolina's fourteen individual competitors at the NCAA East Prelims, eight Tar Heels finished higher than their initial seedings in 10 events. The men's 4x400 also well exceeded expectations with their seventh-place finish after entering Saturday ranked 14th.

On the final day of competition, juniors Alex Milligan and Brandon Tubby just missed the national stage after a tactical first heat of the men's 1,500-meter quarterfinal. Milligan moved up 11 spots from the initial rankings to finish 15th (3:50.00) overall as Tubby placed 16th (3:50.09) in his first ever NCAA East Preliminary Round appearance.

Daniel McArthur, a junior from Mooresville, N.C., competed in two events over the weekend, placing 24th in Saturday's men's shot put with a mark of 58-6 3/4 (17.85 meters) and 39th in Friday's men's discus with a mark of 154-1 (50.03 meters).

"We're really disappointed that Daniel McArthur didn't perform better in the men's shot put today," Meaders said. "He and I both know that we are fully capable of advancing past this round after seeing how much success he had during his indoor season. He accomplished so much and stayed so strong and so focused — setting a school record, earning an historic NCAA fourth-place finish — so that was frustrating for us, but we'll learn from it and get back to the level we know he can perform. I thought Alex Milligan and Brandon Tubby had phenomenal races today. Alex made it back to the prelims this year, advanced to today's quarterfinal and gave a terrific effort with Tubby right there beside him. Tubby had a great race earlier in the season to get him to this stage for the first time, and I think he competed well with a lot of composure. Both of those guys have grown tremendously this season in their race savviness, and they're going to be extreme competitors for us next year."

"I think overall, it was a tough day for us, but it was a very promising weekend. Our kids continued to show the tenacity we've seen from them the whole year. Each week, we've watched them get better and better, and today our men in the 1,500 raced extremely well in a tactical race, showing that Carolina grit and sadly coming up just a little bit short. I'm amazed at how they continued to try to push themselves to get to the next level… I'm really proud of all of our kids and I'm excited about all of the young student-athletes who are coming back next year. Now they've been to this stage — they've tasted it and they'll be more prepared for next year to advance to the finals."

OTHER TAR HEEL NCAA EAST PRELIM RESULTS
Women
• Sophomore Anna Keefer made four appearances in three events over the course of the NCAA East Prelims. Keefer opened competition with the first round of the women's 100 on Thursday and went on to finish 19th in the quarterfinal on Friday with the second-best time of her career (11.47 seconds). The sophomore also finished 18th in the women's long jump with a mark of 19-7 (5.97 meters) and 31st in the women's 200 meters with a time of 23.71 seconds. Keefer exceeded expectations by placing as many as 15 spots higher than her seeding in her events — 18th from 33rd in the long jump, 19th from 27th in the 100 meters and 31st from 34th in the 200 meters.

• Sophomore Emerson Porter cleared a lifetime-best height of 13-4 1/4 (4.07 meters) for 17th place in the women's pole vault competition. Porter entered the competition seeded 34th.

• Senior Anna Eaton finished just behind her teammate in 18th place with a height of 12-10 1/4 (3.92 meters) in the women's pole vault. Eaton was originally seeded 19th heading into Friday's event.

• Graduate student Alex Cooke wrapped up her Carolina career after finishing 28th in the women's hammer throw. Her mark of 191-3 (58.29 meters) moved up her three spots from her original 31st-place seed.

• Freshman Emily Malone finished 32nd in the women's javelin with a mark of 143-8 (43.81 meters). One of the most consistent competitors all season, Malone was able to move up 11 spots from her original seeding of 43rd.

• Freshman Maiah Walker crossed the finish line in 54.32 seconds to place 35th in the women's 400-meter dash. Walker entered the competition seeded 36th.

• Sophomore Jill Shippee closed out a stellar 2019 hammer throw campaign on Thursday. Although her season ended earlier than she had hoped, Shippee set an ACC league record, broke an ACC championship meet record, won an ACC title and set the North Carolina school record three times this season. Her ACC Championship mark of 224-3 (68.36 meters) established her as a force to be reckoned with, and the Clifton Park, N.Y. native will be back next year looking to take her season to the final stage.

Men
• 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.

• Sophomore Isaiah Palmer finished 32nd in the men's 400 (47.10 seconds) on Thursday before joining the men's 4x400 relay on Saturday.

UP NEXT: North Carolina's men's 4x400 relay and two Tar Heel women — Nicole Greene (women's high jump) and Madison Wiltrout (women's javelin) — will compete in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas from June 5-8.