By: by Emily Diekelmann
Full Results
A-Sun Story on McNair
Kendall Parks- 110 meter hurdles- Friday, 5 p.m.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Four members of the Kennesaw State track and field team competed today at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries in Bloomington, Ind. In only their second year of being able to compete at the Division I level, the team sent four male and one female athlete to vie for a spot at Nationals in two weeks.
“Three of our athletes brought their careers to a successful close today,” head track and field coach Andy Eggerth said. “Josh extended his career by another two weeks by qualifying for the semifinals in Des Moines. Mackenzie closed out her victorious career by shattering her 10k school record again. Gianni and Josh James finished their season in the top 100 of the nation.”
Lengthening his senior season one important meet further, Josh McNair will get a chance at a national championship in shot put when he competes at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship in Des Moines, Iowa. His distance of 17.85 (58’ 6.75”) meters helped him finish in top 11 and also for the third time this season broke the school record. In order to move to the finals, an athlete must finish in the top 12 of their event during the semifinals.
“Josh has had a good couple of weeks leading up to regionals,” throws coach Duane Morris said. “We knew he was going to have a good weekend but wasn’t sure how good. He knew what he had to do and he did it. I am not surprised since Josh puts in a lot of hours at practice on his own. I couldn’t have wanted something like this for a better person. He went from being 39th in the region to 11th which just shows the hard work he put into it.”
Representing the women’s team, Mackenzie Howe for a second straight season made it to preliminaries in the 10,000 meters. Setting a new school record time of 34:13.69, she finished 21st just nine spots short of making it to finals in Iowa.
Howe closed out what has been an amazing successful season which saw her being the first cross country athlete to making it to Nationals and four All-Conference awards from indoor and outdoor track.
Making it to the track postseason for the first time, Gianni Catalano competed in the 800 meter race Thursday evening. His time of 1:52.90 was good enough for 35th and just shy of making it to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Rounding out the four Owls who competed on Friday was James. He finished 45th in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54:49. James closes out a season that saw a school record broken at the Atlantic Sun Outdoor Conference Championships along with an All-Conference award for his first place finish in the 400 hurdles.
Junior Kendall Parks gets his shot on Friday to make it to the quarterfinals on Saturday in the 100 meter hurdles. Parks currently holds the school record in the event and ranks 25th in the nation. He hits the starting line at 5 p.m. on Friday. For live video of all the day two action, click
here.
