UALBANY SENDS 17 ATHLETES TO NCAA TRACK & FIELD EAST REGIONAL

[McFan]

Gainesville, Fla. - Seventeen athletes, the largest group in the track and field program history, will represent the University at Albany at the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 25-26. The regional competition will be held at the University of Florida's Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium.

The list of UAlbany qualifiers include Junior Burnett, Gered Burns, Ricardo Estremera, Joe Greene, Raphael Jean-Baptiste, Gabriel Lopez, Mike McCadney, Marc Pallozzi, Felipe Reyes, Luke Schoen, Pat Weider, Freddie Wills, Adanna Andrews, Sarah Charles, Jenn Gurrant, Brenna Militello and Jessica Ortman. The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three relays in the 4x100m and 4x400m will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

Burnett will compete in the 100-meter dash after winning his first America East Conference title. He is also a member of America East champion 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relays. Burns, a senior from Altamont, N.Y., qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the 800-meter run. He posted a first-place finish at the America East championship and placed second at the IC4A meet. Burns ran a season-best 1:48.20 at the IC4A Championship. Burns will also compete in the 4 x 400m relay. Greene, a regional qualifier in both the 400-dash and 400-hurdles, will concentrate this weekend on the hurdles. He holds both school records in the 400-dash and 400-hurdles. The sophomore became first UAlbany track and field athlete to win two consecutive IC4A outdoor championships at the Division I level with a season-best 50.65 seconds in the hurdles. He will also compete as a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

Pallozzi, the first UAlbany field athlete to earn All-America honors after placing tenth at nationals in 2006, will compete in the javelin for the third straight year. He has consistently thrown over 200-feet en route to garnering his second America East title and first IC4A crown this spring. Pallozzi holds the school standard with a toss of 228-feet, 2-inches. McCadney will compete in the triple jump after finishing second at the America East championship. He bested the UAlbany mark, established by Peter Rugel in 1991, by leaping 50-feet, 9.25-inches.

Reyes broke the long jump record, previously set by Luis Soto in 1998, with a mark of 24-feet, 6.5-inches in qualifying for the NCAA regional meet. Lopez won the long jump at the America East championship. Schoen, a freshman, is a regional participant after placing second at the America East championship in the pole vault with a school-record mark of 16-feet, 8.75-inches. Estremera won his first America East 3,000-meter steeplechase championship with a time of 9:03.46.

Ortman, a sophomore, qualified for NCAA regionals in two events, but will focus on the 800-meter run. She won the America East 1,500-meter run championship and recorded second-place finishes in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 800m. She became the first UAlbany athlete to capture a Texas Relays' title with a winning effort in the 800-meters.

Charles, a senior from Central Islip, N.Y., eclipsed the UAlbany triple jump mark with a leap of 41-feet, 2.25-inches at the UAlbany Spring Classic. She also posted a second-place showing at the America East championships. Andrews, Gurrant and Militello won America East titles in the 800m, long jump and high jump, respectively, to qualify for regional competition.