Princeton University Athletics
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Men's Track Heads to NCAA Regional This Weekend
May 28, 2009 | Men's Track and Field
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North Carolina A&T site
NCAA East Regional site (includes schedule and live stats)
PRINCETON, N.J. (5/27/09) ? The NCAA East Regional will be held May 29-30 at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C. Twelve members of the Princeton men's track and field teams have qualified for the Regional and will look to make an impressive showing to reach the NCAA Championship.
The top five finishers in each individual event automatically advance to the NCAA Championship June 10-13 at the Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. The remainder of the competitors will be placed in an at-large pool to fill the remaining spots at the national meet.
Kicking things off will be senior Alex Pessala, sophomore Craig Pearce and Joel Karacozoff in the men's hammer throw on Friday at 11 a.m. Only Georgia has more competitors than Princeton in the event, with four, three of which rank in the top 10. Pessala has the second-best mark in the country at 69.06 meters behind Virginia Tech's Marcel Lomnicky's 71.70-meter throw. Pearce and Karacozoff's best marks stand at 60.01 and 57.12, respectively.
At 3 p.m., freshman David Slovenski and junior Chad Faulkner will take on the pole vault. Slovenski reached 5.15 meters this season to rank 13th on the list of 32, while Faulkner's 5.05 meters is 24th.
Sophomore George Abyad will compete in the discus at 5 p.m. His best throw of the season is 51.92 meters, ranking 22nd.
Senior Michael Maag and freshman Trevor Van Ackeren start the track events off at 5 p.m., with the 1500-meter run. Only two runners separate Van Ackeren and Maag who have times of 3:46.21 and 3:46.53, respectively. The finals will be held Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Sophomore Mike Eddy and freshman Austin Hollimon will run in the 400 at 6:25 p.m. Eddy's time of 46.49 ranks 17th, while Hollimon is 35th with a time of 47.01. Florida and Florida State combine for six of the top-10 in the event. The finals will be held on Saturday, at 6:15 p.m.
Hollimon will get a break before competing in the 200 at 9 p.m. He has a season-best time of 21.21, ranking 38th on the list of 52. The finals will be held on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
Maag will close out the day with the 5000-meter run at 9:30 p.m. Maag boasts the second-best time in the country at 13:41.17.
Junior Eric Plummer begins the events on Saturday with the shot put at 3 p.m. His best throw of the season reached 17.60 meters to sit him 16th in the list of 34.
The high jump will be held two hours later at 5 p.m., with junior Ian Fox taking part. Fox cleared 2.10 meters to rank 22nd.
Ending the day will be Van Ackeren in the steeplechase at 8:10 p.m. He ranks 17th on the list of 34 with a time of 9:02.84
*Please note the schedule has changed
Friday
3 p.m., men's shot put trials and finals (Eric Plummer)
5 p.m., men's high jump finals (Ian Fox)
5 p.m., men's 1500 prelims (finals 5:30 Sat) (Michael Maag, Trevor Van Ackeren)
6:25 p.m., men's 400 prelims (finals 6:20 Sat) (Mike Eddy, Austin Hollimon)
9 p.m., men's 200 prelims (finals 7:05 Sat) (Austin Hollimon)
9:40 p.m., men's 5000 finals (Michael Maag)
Saturday
11 a.m., men's hammer trials and finals (Alex Pessala, Craig Pearce, Joel Karacozoff)
3 p.m., men's pole vault finals (David Slovenski, Chad Faulkner)
5 p.m., men's discus trials and finals (George Abyad)
8:10 p.m., men's steeplechase finals (Trevor Van Ackeren)