USATF set to compete at the 2014 NACAC under 23 Championships

USATF set to compete at the 2014 NACAC under 23 Championships

8/7/2014

KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- USA Track & Field’s 79 athletes are set to compete in the 2014 NACAC U-23 Championships, a three-day event Aug. 8-10, featuring 31 countries from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The event takes place in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

More than 500 athletes ages 20, 21 and 22 will compete at Hillside Stadium on the campus of Thompson Rivers University in the 8th edition of the event. The U.S. led all nations with an impressive medal haul of 31 golds, 25 silvers and 11 bronzes at the 2102 championships in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Of those medallist, Octavious Freeman (Lake Wales, Florida) returns to the U.S. roster after winning gold on the 4x100-meter relay team and silver in the open 100m in Guanajuato. Freeman was a University of Central Florida student-athlete who turned pro after the 2013 USATF Outdoor Championships, where she qualified for a spot on the American team heading to Moscow for IAAF World Championships. At Worlds, she won silver with the 4x100 team, which clocked 42.75. Freman - true to form - will compete in the 4x100m relay in Kamloops.

Competing on his second U.S. National Team is Aaron Ernest (New Orleans, Louisiana) from LSU. Ernest is a three-time IAAF World Junior Championships medalist who won gold in the 4x100 and silver in both 100m and 200m at Barcelona in 2012. He approaches the 200m in Kamloops with the top, seed time of 20.14 ahead of American teammate Remon McClain’s 20.27 and the quickest foreign challenger’s 20.57. Ernest is an NCAA Champion, eight-time All-American and a two-time SEC Champion, earning six All-SEC honors.

The roster also includes Briana Nelson (Greenville, South Carolina) from the University of Texas, who is also competing on her second U.S. National Team. Nelson won gold in the 4x400m relay at 2011 Pan American Junior Championships in Miramar, Florida, and comes into the NACAC competition with a top, seed time of 51.08. She is a seven-time USTFCCCA First Team All-American, a 2013 Big 12 Indoor champion in 4x400m and distance medley relay, and she has earned 13 All-Big 12 honors.

Diondre Batson (Sacramento, California) of the University of Alabama is a 2014 SEC 60m and NCAA indoor 200m champion. In 2013, he earned First Team All-America honors in the indoor 60m and 200m, as well as the 100m and 4x100m relay outdoors. Baston approaches the NACAC U-23 Championships with a 100m seed time of 10.04, which is .07 seconds faster than the next closest international competitor.

In distance races, 20-year-old Erin Finn (West Bloomfield, Michigan) of the University of Michigan comes in with the top women’s 5,000m seed time, 15:26.08, nearly a minute and a half better than the field’s second-ranked regional competitor. Finn joins her first national team after earning 2014 accolades as a two-time USTFCCCA All-American, three-time Big 10 Champion, Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Championships, Big Ten Indoor Track Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-Big Ten first team honoree indoors and outdoors.

The roster of strong and talented U.S. women continues in Kelsey Card (Plainville, Illinois) and Christina Hillman (Dover, Delaware) in short throws.

Card, who competes collegiately for Wisconsin, will participate in both discus and shot put with top seeded marks in each. Card has a personal best in shot put of 17.77m/58-3.61 and a discus PR of 58.94m/193-4.47.

Hillman, of Iowa State, is a 2014 NCAA and Big 12 Champion, a 2013 indoor and outdoor All-American, and she was twice named All-Big 12.

The NACAC U-23 Championships begin Friday, Aug. 8 with the women's 100m hurdles at 4 p.m. PT.

Click here for the complete roster and additional event information. Live results will appear on NACAC 2014 and Athletics Canada websites.

Roster


Event First Name Last Name DOB College/University
100m Katie Wise 10/15/93 Indiana State
100m Ciera White 4/29/93 Texas Tech
200m Ashton Purvis 7/12/92 Texas A&M
200m Ciera White 4/29/93 Texas Tech
400m Brianna Nelson 7/18/92 Texas
400m Taylor Ellis-Watson 5/6/93 Pittsburgh
800m Shelby Houlihan 2/8/93 Arizona State
800m Megan Malasarte 8/1/92 Georgia
1500m Cory McGee 5/29/92 Florida
1500m Hillary Holt 4/24/92 College of Idaho
5000m Erin Finn 11/19/94 Michigan
10,000m Margo Malone 9/3/93 Syracuse
10,000mRW Molly Josephs 3/38/1994 Missouri Baptist
100mHurdles Kendra Harrison 9/18/92 Kentucky
100mHurdles LeTristan Pledger 8/27/93 Texas Tech
400mHurdles Tyler Brockington 2/6/94 South Carolina
400mHurdles Kiah Seymour 1/11/94 Penn State
3000mSC Rachel Johnson 4/30/93 Baylor
3000mSC Courtney Frerichs 1/18/93 Missouri - Kansas City
4x100mRelay Octavius Freeman 4/20/92 Pro (Central Florida)
4x100mRelay Ebony Eutsey 5/13/92 Florida
4x400mRelay Kala Funderburk 9/14/92 Florida State
4x400mRelay Kiara Porter 10/12/93 VCU
High Jump Shanay Briscoe 7/8/92 Texas
High Jump Ronea Saunders 6/27/93 Central Connecticut State
Long Jump Sha'Keela Saunders 12/12/93 Kentucky
Long Jump Sydney Conley 12/11/93 Kansas
Triple Jump Tori Franklin 10/7/92 Michigan State
Triple Jump Ellie Ewere 6/27/93 Nebraska
Pole Vault Sandi Morris 7/8/92 North Carolina
Pole Vault Kaitlin Petrillose 12/10/92 Texas
Shot Put Christina Hillman 10/6/93 Delaware
Shot Put Kelsey Card 8/20/92 Wisconsin
Discus Kelsey Card 8/20/92 Wisconsin
Discus Alex Collatz 5/25/93 Southern California
Hammer Brooke Pleger 6/21/92 Bowling Green
Hammer Brittany Funk 5/13/93 Akron
Javelin Fawn Miller 4/10/92 Florida
Javelin Hannah Carson 1/26/93 Texas Tech
Heptathlon Quintunya Chapman 1/7/93 Georgia
Heptathlon Brittany Howell 9/1/92 Penn State
100m Antwon Wright 11/17/93 Florida
100m Diondre Batson 7/13/92 Alabama
200m Remonty McClain 9/21/92 Azusa Pacific
200m Aaron Ernest 11/8/93 LSU
400m Vernon Norwood 4/10/92 LSU
400m Brycen Spratling 3/10/92 Pittsburgh
800m Drew Windle 7/22/92 Ashland University
800m Christopher Low 8/29/92 Long Beach State
1500m Matthew Hillenbrand 5/8/92 Kentucky
5000m Christopher Bendtsen 2/29/92 Princeton
10 000m Christopher Enriquez 8/2/93 Long Beach State
11 000m Christopher Bendtsen 2/29/92 Princeton
20 000mRW Emmanuel Corvera 3/25/93 Cuyamaca Community College
21 000mRW Alejandro Chavez 5/5/93 Missouri Baptist
110mHurdles Freddie Crittenden 8/2/96 Syracuse
110mHurdles Vincent Wyatt 10/18/92 Radford
400mHurdles Michael Stigler 5/4/92 Kansas
400mHurdles Trevor Brown 3/24/92 Colorado State
3000mSC Mason Ferlic 8/5/93 Michigan
3000mSC Edward Owens 8/11/93 Princeton
4x100mRelay Christopher Royster 1/26/92 South Carolina
4x400mRelay Akeem Alexander 9/19/94 College of the Sequoias
4x400mRelay Najee Glass 6/12/94 Florida
High Jump JaCorian Duffield 9/2/92 Texas Tech
High Jump Dakarai Hightower 7/15/94 Lane Community College
Long Jump Braxton Drummond 10/24/92 Charleston Southern
Long Jump Devin Field 9/10/93 Kansas State
Triple Jump Matthew O’Neal 6/10/94 South Florida
Triple Jump Eric Sloan 6/20/94 Delta College
Pole Vault Chase Wolfle 10/9/92 Texas A&M
Pole Vault Jacob Blankenship 3/15/94 Tennessee
Shot Put Darrell Hill 8/17/93 Penn State
Shot Put Willy Irwin 6/2/92
Discus Tavis Bailey 1/6/92 Tennessee
Discus Rodney Brown 5/21/93 LSU
Hammer Matthias Tayala 4/27/93 Kent State
Hammer Gregory Skipper 3/26/93 Oregon
Javelin Michael Shuey 2/2/94 Penn State
Javelin Christopher Carper 4/19/92 Robert Morris
Decathlon Kale Wolken 9/13/93 Doane College
Decathlon Ijah Solomon 9/26/93 Eastern Michigan

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