May 29, 2014
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - WKU throwers Tomas Guerra and Jessica Ramsey punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday as they both finished Top 12 in their respective events on the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, hosted by North Florida at Hodges Stadium.
Guerra finished third in the javelin throw and Ramsey placed ninth in the hammer throw to ensure return trips to Eugene, Ore. Guerra was a First-Team All-American in the javelin throw as a freshman in 2013 and Ramsey represented WKU in the discus at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Guerra recorded his second best throw of the season on Thursday, hurling the javelin 234'5 (71.46m) to finish third among the 48-man field. Ramsey captured ninth-place honors with a hammer throw of 197'3 (60.13m). Both Guerra and Ramsey have recorded their two best marks of the season in their past two competitions.
Ramsey will also have the opportunity to advance to the NCAA Championships in the discus and the shot put later this week. She is seeded ninth in the discus and will compete in the event Friday at 3:30 p.m. (CT) before Saturday's shot put competition, where she is seeded second.
Senior sprinter Elvyonn Bailey won his heat of the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.22 seconds to advance to Friday's semifinals. Bailey will race for a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday at 6 p.m., with the Top 12 finishers advancing to Eugene.
Freshman athlete Ventavius Sears competed in the first of his four events this weekend and missed advancing to the NCAA Championships in the long jump by a quarter of an inch. Sears placed 13th on Thursday with a leap of 24'7 (7.49m). He will compete in the triple jump Friday and run legs of the Hilltoppers' 4X1 and 4X4 relays on Saturday.
David Mokone finished his career on the track by finishing 25th in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.13. Mokone finishes his track career with 13 All-Sun Belt Conference honors, seven individual Sun Belt Conference titles and two All-American honors in the 800-meter run.
Sprinters Emmanuel Dasor and Ja'Karyus Redwine raced in the 100-meter dash and finished 25th and 34th, respectively. Dasor crossed the finish in 10.66 seconds while Redwine came in at 10.73. For the Lady Toppers, freshman sprinters Carrol Hardy and Sandra Akachukwu finished 44th and 47th in the 100-meter dash.
Akachukwu also competed in the long jump and finished 42nd with a leap of 18'10 (5.74m) while junior teammate Chioma Agwunobi finished 44th at 18'8 (5.69m). Both will run legs of the Lady Toppers' 4X1 relay on Saturday and Akachukwu will race in Friday's 200-meter dash.
Katie Lever capped a breakout sophomore season with a 37th-place showing in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 36:22.45. Lever picked up All-Sun Belt Conference honors in the 5,000 and 10,000-meter runs during her outdoor campaign and all-league accolades in the 3,000-meter run during the indoor season.
Day two of the NCAA East Preliminary Championships begins on Friday at 10 a.m. with the men's hammer throw. For WKU, Ramsey will compete in the discus, Bailey will race in the 400-meter dash semifinals, Sears and Cyrus Johnson will triple jump while Hardy and Akachukwu will race in the 200-meter dash prelims. For more information on WKU Track and Field, visit WKUSports.com.
