NCAA D-I East Regional Recap

The East Region Championships took place from May 28-29 at Percy Beard Track on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville. The top five individually in the finals and the top three relays in the finals qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that is set for June 9-12 in Austin, TX.

Clemson
The Clemson men\'s track and field team finished fourth with 45 points at the 2004 East Region Championships. At the inaugural East Region Championships a year ago, Clemson men\'s track and field also brought home a fourth-place finish. On Saturday, two more Tigers automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Tye Hill was the runner-up in the 100 meters and Lydell Perry placed fifth in the 110 meter hurdles to earn automatic bids to this year\'s national meet. On Friday, three Tigers automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. George Kitchens was the runner-up in the long jump, while Terrance McDaniel and Adam Linkenauger tied for second place in the high jump. As only three teams automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, Clemson will await an at-large bid.

Lydell Perry, a freshman from Jonesboro, GA, recorded a time of 13.87 in the 110 hurdles to finish fifth and automatically qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Perry recorded a season-best 13.82 in Friday\'s preliminaries, the best time recorded by a Tiger this season. Tye Hill earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in the 100, finishing as the runner-up in 10.27. This afternoon\'s time is a career-best for Hill. He is the second Tiger to advance to the NCAA Championships, as dual-sport teammate (football) Airese Currie was the East Region Champion a year ago. This will be Hill\'s first individual appearance at the NCAA Championships.

The Clemson women\'s track and field team completed competition at the East Region Championships on Saturday. Gisele Oliveira set the ACC and Clemson triple jump records en route to the East Region Championship, while Silja Ulfarsdottir automatically qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 400 meter hurdles. In the 400 hurdles, Ulfarsdottir finished fifth with a time of 57.48 to automatically advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. This will be her first appearance at the national meet for the junior from Reykjavik, Iceland. Ulfarsdottir moved into second on the Lady Tigers\' all-time list in the 400 hurdles with her performance this weekend.

Gisele Oliveira reset the ACC and Clemson triple jump records as she claimed the East Region Championship in the event. The junior from Porte Alegre, Brazil, recorded a personal-best mark of 44\'10.75\" on her first attempt. Oliveira is the Lady Tigers\' first region champion in the triple jump and is making her third appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the event. She placed third in the triple jump at the 2003 NCAA meet. The Lady Tigers\' 4x100 meter relay team of Ulfarsdottir, Christina Smith, Randi Hinton and Jessica Cousins recorded a time of 45.74 to finish ninth in Saturday\'s finals.

Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina men\'s outdoor track and field sophomore Mark Johnson (North Myrtle Beach, S.C./North Myrtle Beach) became the second Chanticleer to win a regional title this weekend, breaking the school and regional records by clearing 5.26 meters/17\'3\" in the pole vault.

Johnson\'s 10 points helped the CCU men to a 17th place finish with 12 total points at the end of the meet, and he will join senior Amber Campbell (Indianapolis, Ind./Pike) at the 2004 NCAA Championships. Campbell won the women\'s hammer throw Friday with a record throw, and the Lady Chanticleers finished 22nd overall with 10 points.

College of Charleston
College of Charleston's Kosha Lance placed 24th at the NCAA East Regionals in the hammer throw event held on Friday. Lance threw 52.55 meters (172\'6\" inches) in the competition. Lance qualified for the event by capturing the Southern Conference championship and set a SoCon record by throwing 54.23 meters. Lance became the first Cougar to compete in the track and field regionals and she won the first Southern Conference championships for a College of Charleston track athlete in indoor and outdoor track and field this past season.

South Carolina
Competing at the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track and Field Championships, USC qualified ten for the NCAA Championships. USC also qualified it\'s women\'s 4x100 meter relay and the women\'s 4x400 meter relay. The USC women were Shevon Stoddart, Khalilah Carpenter, Chiquita Martin, Stephanie Smith, Lashinda Demus, Erica Whipple, Alexis Joyce, Chelsea Hammond, and Precious Akins. Tony Allmond qualified on the men\'s side. Lashinda Demus and Tony Allmond won East Regional titles.

Lashinda Demus set two East Regional records in both the 100 hurdles and the 400 hurdles. Demus ran a 54.77 in the 400m hurdles and a personal best 12.99 in the 100 hurdles, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in both events. Shevon Stoddart qualified for the championships with a time of 56.79 in the 400 meter hurdles. Stoddart finished third in the race. The women\'s 4x100 meter relay of Erica Whipple, Lashinda Demus, Alexis Joyce, and Khalilah Carpenter finished second in the finals, with a qualifying place and time of 43.95. The women\'s 4x400 meter relay was third with a time of 3:33.21. The relay does qualify for the NCAA Championships and consisted of Shevon Stoddart, Carpenter, Chiquita Martin, and Stephanie Smith.

Precious Akins, a freshman at South Carolina and native of Summerville was USC\'s first NCAA Championship qualifier. Akins was the runner-up in the discus with a throw of 174\'5\" - the second best mark in school history. Fourth at the SEC Championships and already qualified for the USA Junior Championships Akins also qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Winthrop
Winthrop senior sprinter Octavia Goode set one of the top individual performances in school history on Friday as she set new school and conference records at the regional meet. Goode broke her own Big South Conference and school records in both the 100 and 200 events. Goode anchored Winthrop's 4x100 record-setting relay team of Dee Dee Walker, Ieeshia English, and Tomeika Banks. The quartet turned in a time of 45.86 seconds to break their own school and Big South Conference mark by five-tenths of a second.

The United States Track Coaches Association announced the Mondo Outdoor District Athletes and Coaches of the Year for NCAA D-I on May 26. Tony Allmond and Lashinda Demus of South Carolina were named Southast Athletes of the Year. Clemson head men\'s coach Bob Pollock was named Southeast Coach of the Year.

Full USTCA Athletes/Coaches of the Year List
-- Athletes --
Great Lakes : Dan Taylor, Ohio State (men) and Briana Shook, Toledo (women)
Mid-Atlantic : Brian Chaput, Pennsylvania (men) and Connie Moore, Penn State (women)
Midwest : Carl Myerscough, Nebraska (men) and Becky Breisch, Nebraska (women)
Mountain : Dathan Ritzenhein, Colorado (men) and Loree Smith, Colorado State (women)
Northeast : Mustafa Abdur-Rahim, Dartmouth (men) and Kim Smith, Providence (women)
South : Maurice Smith, Auburn (men) and Hyleas Fountain, Georgia (women)
Southeast : Tony Allmond, South Carolina (men) and Lashinda Demus, South Carolina (women)
South Central : Alistair Cragg, Arkansas (men) and Veronica Campbell, Arkansas (women)
West : Dan Ames, UCLA (men) and Sheena Johnson, UCLA (women)

-- Coaches --
Great Lakes : Wendel McRaven, Kent State (men) and Karen Lutzke, Central Michigan (women)
Mid-Atlantic : Michael Mulqueen, Rutgers (men) and Alonzo Webb, Pittsburgh (women)
Midwest : Gary Peppin, Nebraska (men) and Steve Rainbolt, Wichita State (women)
Mountain : Mark Robison, BYU (men) and Craig Poole, BYU (women)
Northeast : John Copeland, Rhode Island (men) and Robert Johnson, Brown (women)
South : Mike Holloway, Florida (men) and Amy Deem, Miami (women)
Southeast : Bob Pollock, Clemson (men) and John Weaver, Appalachian State (women)
South Central : John McDonnell, Arkansas (men) and Beverly Kearney, Texas (women)
West : Art Venegas, UCLA (men) and Jeanette Bolden, UCLA (women)

**On May 22 several South Carolina high school athletes competed at the Dekalb Prep Classic in Atlanta, Ga.

NCAA regional recap information received from meet results and each college\'s athletic website.