EUGENE, Ore. (5/27/2011) - Arkansas State junior Stephanie Foreman cleared 13-5.25 to finish among the top nine competitors in the pole vault Friday at the NCAA Track & Field West Regional at Heyward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
With her finish Friday, Foreman qualifies for the NCAA National Championships, set for June 8-11 in Des Moines, Iowa. Foreman was one of nine competitors who cleared the meet-best 13-5.25. The top 12 finishers advance to Des Moines.
Foreman, a three-time Sun Belt Conference champion in both the outdoor and indoor pole vault, set a new conference record April 23 when she cleared 13-6.25 at the Mississippi Invitational. The record broke her previous mark of 13-5.75 set last May.
Sophomore Solomon Williams ran a season-best 14.06 in the men's 110-meter hurdles preliminaries to advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.
Williams' time in the race was the second-fastest of his career and beat his previous season-best of 14.25 posted April 9 at the Ole Miss Invitational. The top three finishers in each of Friday's six heats, plus the next six best times advanced to the quarterfinals. Williams finished fourth in the third heat but earned his way into the quarterfinals in one of the remaining six slots.
Williams will run in the quarterfinals Saturday at 2:20 p.m. (PT). He will also compete in the triple jump at 12:30 p.m.
"Steph did a great job and really came through on her last attempt to make the National meet in Des Moines," said ASU head coach Lon Badeaux. "She has had a great year and deserves to be in the National field. Solomon also did a nice job; he's sitting at 19 after the preliminary heats with a race that wasn't perfect. If he runs clean tomorrow, I like his chances of qualifying through."
Sophomore Julia Agawu will compete in the women's discus Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Williams and Agawu will be competing to advance to the NCAA Championships.
Freshman Sharika Nelvis qualified for the quarterfinals of the 100-meter dash in Friday's preliminaries, but did not advance past today's quarterfinals. Nelvis also missed the cut in today's preliminaries for the 100-meter hurdles. Senior Erica Naeger competed in the pole vault along with Foreman, but did not advance. Foreman and Naeger posted a 1-2 finish May 15 at the SBC Championships in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
For complete results from the West Regionals, log on to:
http://www.flashresults.com/2011_Meets/outdoor/05-26-NCAAWest/Day2.htm
