Princeton Qualifies Six to NCAA East Regional
May 17, 2018 | Women's Track and Field
Official East Region Web Site
East Regional Declared List
Six members of the Princeton women's track & field team have qualified for the 2017 NCAA East Regional it was announced by the NCAA on Thursday, May 17. The East Regional will be held in Tampa, Fla., on the campus of University of South Florida on May 24-26.
It is the second straight year that Anna Jurew has qualified in the 800 meters. She has a season best time of 2:07.91 from the Army West Point Twilight Meet and owns a PR of 2:07.65. The 800 will be held on Thursday at 8:35 p.m. The top three times from each of six heats plus the next six best times advance to the Friday's quarterfinal.
Princeton has had an excellent run of qualifiers to the steeplechase regional and it continues with junior Brighie Leach. She clocked a PR of 10:18.49 in her last time out at the ECAC Championships. The quarterfinal will be the final event on Day 2, at 9 p.m., on Friday. The top three from each of three heats plus the next three best times advance to the semifinal in Oregon.
Freshman Obiageri Amaechi will make her Regional debut in the discus. She has the fifth-best throw in the region at 55.92 (183-5) and has succeeded in outdoing her PR and the Princeton record in every single meet this season. She set the Princeton record in her first meet of the season and continued her best being at the ECAC Championships, the second-best throw in Ivy League history. The discus will be held at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, with the top 12 advancing to Oregon.
Senior Kennedy O'Dell qualified in both the shot put and hammer throw. At Ivy Heps O'Dell threw a PR of 15.29 (50-2), the third best mark in Princeton history. She sits behind Olympian Debbie St. Phard '87 and Thanithia Billings '11 on the Princeton top-10 list. O'Dell qualifies for the hammer throw for the second season. She had a PR of 60.01 (196-10) at Larry Ellis and is second all-time at Princeton behind national champion Julia Ratcliffe '17. The shot put will be on Thursday at 8 p.m., with the hammer on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The top 12 will advance to the championships in Oregon.
In the javelin, freshman Rylie Pease makes her Regional debut on Thursday at 4 p.m. Pease has a 45.19 (148-3) from the Ivy Heps in which she was the runner-up. She ranks second on Princeton's indoor list with the best throw in the javelin since 1991, when Missy Hake '92 threw the record of 45.80. Like the other field events, the top 12 will advance to the finals in Oregon.
Players Mentioned
