Track Heads for NCAA Regionals at FSU
Wake sends nine to compete for a spot in NCAA Championships

May 27, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Qualifying members of the Wake Forest Track and Field squad are headed to the NCAA Regionals in Tallahassee, set for May 30 and 31 on the Florida State campus.

This season, Wake Forest is sending nine athletes to the event, including four sprinters, three hurdlers, one distance runner and one javelin competitor. In addition, Molly Kennedy has earned provisional marks in the heptathlon and will await the selection for the NCAA Championships, set for June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa.

The top five finishers at each event will automatically qualify for the championships. Other athletes may earn an at-large invitation based on top performance marks during the season.

Events will begin on Friday with the high jump at 1 p.m. Other field events scheduled for Friday include the discus, pole vault, shot put, long jump and javelin. Running trials will begin on Friday, with finals scheduled for Saturday.

For complete meet information, including live stats, please visit Seminoles.com.

Nicole Castronouva

Nicole Castronouva
Sophomore sprinter Nicole Castronouva (Jackson, N.J.) will be making her first trip to the NCAA Regionals. Castronouva qualified with a personal best 23.94 performance in the 200m dash at the ACC Championships, finishing seventh place overall. Castronouva has also competed in the 100m dash during the season, posting a top time of 12.44 and the 400m run, recording a top performance of 55.59 at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 18.

Alex Gove
Gove (Castle Rock, Colo.) will compete in the 400m hurdles at the regionals for the second time in her career. Last season, Gove placed 24th at the regionals in Gainesville, Fla. with a 1:02.19 finish. The sophomore hurdler qualified for this season's meet with a 1:00.57 performance at the Purple and Orange Invitational, hosted by Clemson on May 10.

Michelle Loyd
At the 2007 NCAA Regionals, Michelle Loyd set a personal best time of 1:00.19 in the 400m hurdles, taking a 12th place finish. In the 2008 outdoor season, Loyd has broken the minute mark at every single outing, recording her top performance of 58.33 at the Wake Forest Open for a new school record. Loyd also ranks in the top ten of the Wake Forest All-Time performance list in the 400m dash, 100m hurdles and the 1600m relay.

Kerry Major

Kerry Major
Kerry Major (Toccoa, Ga.) wrapped up his career with the Wake Forest football team in December but is still competing as a Demon Deacon on track squad, where his 10.55 100m dash mark at the Wake Forest Open earned him a berth to the NCAA Regionals. In 2006, his first year on track team, Major qualified for regionals, but was passed over in 2007. Major currently holds the seventh best 100m time in Wake Forest history, posting a 10.54 mark in 2006. Major is also Wake's second all-time top performer in the long jump with a 24-08.50 mark in 2006.

Carly Mauch
In her first event of the outdoor season, Mauch (Pasco, Wash.) earned regional marks in the javelin throw with a 149-03.00 performance, setting a new program record. Last season, Mauch finished 21st amongst regional competitors with a 138-06.00 throw. At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Mauch placed second in the conference with a 142-03.00 mark.

Anna Nosenko
Nosenko (Ukraine) is the only Wake Forest athlete who will be participating in two events at the upcoming meet. After signing on with the Demon Deacons in January, the freshman standout met the regional mark of 16:52 in the 5000m run with a 16:38 finish at the Stanford Invitational on April 5. A month later, Nosenko surpassed the 4:27.80 regional mark in the 1500m run with a 4:26.46 performance at the Georgia Tech Invitational.

Jon Reid

Jon Reid
Reid (Windsor, Ontario) will be making his second NCAA Regional appearance, following up a stellar performance with the 4x100 meter relay team 2007. Reid recently qualified in the 400m dash with a 47.18 finish at the ACC Championships. The high mark is still shy of his personal best 46.95, set last summer at the Canadian Junior Track and Field Championships.

Caroline Vaughn

Caroline Vaughn
Vaughn (Atlanta, Ga.) will be Wake's 100m hurdler, qualifying for the regionals when she set a new school record of 13.66 at Clemson's Purple and Orange Invitational on May 17. In her first appearance at the regionals in 2007, Vaughn finished 33rd with a 14.80 finish. Vaughn also holds the top Demon Deacon performance of 2008 in the long jump with a 18-05.75 mark at the Wake Forest Open on March 21.

Phillip Warsaw
Junior hurdler Phillip Warsaw (Elizabethtown, Ky.) will be Wake Forest's regional representative in the 400m hurdles for the second consecutive season. Warsaw surpassed regional qualifications for back-to-back week in the outdoor season, earning a season best 52.27 at the ACC Outdoor Championships following his 52.41 performance at the Spec Towns Invitational on April 12. Warsaw currently holds the school 400m hurdle record with a 51.60 performance at the Georgia Tech Invitational in 2007.

- www.WakeForestSports.com -