Liberty to Send Eight to Duke Twilight
5/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
Live Results (Courtesy of Flash Results, Inc.)
A late addition to the 2010 Liberty track & field schedule, Sunday's Duke Twilight meet will provide an opportunity for eight Flames and Lady Flames to qualify for the IC4A or ECAC meets as well as improve their chances at making the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round meet.
The one-day meet at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C., will start Sunday at 2 p.m., with the men's hammer throw and will continue until approximately 10 p.m.
How to Follow the Flames
Live results will be available throughout Sunday's meet, courtesy of Flash Results, Inc.
Chronological Meet Preview
4 p.m. – Men's Pole Vault (Cody Fridgen, Spencer McCorkel & Justin Savini)
Outlook/Objectives: Cody Fridgen, Spencer McCorkel and Justin Savini will take part in a Liberty-heavy men's pole vault competition. Including redshirting teammate Kolby Shepherd, four of the 11 entrants in the event have ties to the Flames.
Fridgen, the reigning Big South outdoor pole vault champion, has already met the IC4A qualification standard of 15-9. He will attempt to improve his placement on the regional list, where 16-2.75 is currently the cut-off point for reaching the NCAA Preliminary Round.
Meanwhile, McCorkel (15-3 season best) and Savini (15-5 during the 2010 indoor season) hope to extend their respective seasons by clearing 15-9 or higher on Sunday.
4 p.m. – Men's Triple Jump (Kevin Reddington)
Outlook/Objectives: Freshman Kevin Reddington set new personal bests in both the long jump (24-1) and triple jump (47-3.75) at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on April 29. The Big South Men's Freshman of the Year indoors has already punched his ticket to the IC4A meet in the long jump and will now attempt to do so in the triple jump as well.
Liberty's trio of Clarence Powell, Anthony Bryant and Chris Johnson have already triple jumped past the IC4A standard of 47-7 this season. Reddington hopes to join them in Princeton by adding another 3.5 inches to his personal best.
5:30 p.m. (Approximately) – Women's Triple Jump (Alyssa Pegues)
Outlook/Objectives: Alyssa Pegues, a sophomore, is already slated to run the 100-meter dash and 4 x 100 relay at the ECAC Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but would like to triple jump in Princeton as well.
The ECAC triple jump standard is 39-6.5, or 4.75 inches past Pegues' outdoor personal-best 39-1.75 leap at the Liberty Twilight Qualifier. The Big South indoor and outdoor triple jump runner-up this year, Pegues posted an all-time personal best of 39-5.75 at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 13.
7 p.m. – Men's 400 Hurdles (Chris Johnson)
Outlook/Objectives: Chris Johnson clocked a personal-best 54.75 to reach the Big South 400-meter hurdles final, where he finished eighth. His time objective in Sunday's second heat of the men's 400 hurdles will be the IC4A-qualifying mark of 53.84. Teammates Taylor Courtney and Chris Herbst have already reached the IC4A meet in the event.
8 p.m. – Women's 1,500 (Rebekah Ricksecker & Jennifer Klugh)
Outlook/Objectives: Both Rebekah Ricksecker and Jennifer Klugh clocked 1,500-meter season bests at Saturday's Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford, and both runners hope for even more improvement at Duke.
Ricksecker has already qualified for the ECAC meet, so the three-time Big South 1,500-meter champion's eyes are primarily focused on the NCAA Division I Preliminary Round meet. Her 4:26.57 effort at Stanford currently ranks No. 52 in the East Region, but only the top 48 performers at season's end will be invited to the NCAA Preliminary Round. So, Ricksecker aims to improve her time to 4:23 or faster. She will have Duke junior Kate Van Buskirk, who has run 4:23.94 this season, to contend with in her heat.
Klugh will follow in the second heat of the women's 1,500, chasing the ECAC time standard, 4:31.44. The sophomore just notched the fastest time of her career, 4:34.86, at Stanford on Saturday.
