Murray State University Athletics
MSU Athletes Ready For This Weekend's NCAA Mideast Regional Championships
5/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
NCAA Mideast Regional Championships Info Page
Five Murray State track and field athletes will continue the 2004 outdoor season at this weekend's NCAA Mideast Regional Championships at LSU's Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
The championship meet is set for Friday, May 28 and Saturday, May 29 with each day's events to begin at noon.
Senior sprinter Joan Lettman of Toronto, Ontario, will compete in the women's 400-meter dash, while also anchoring MSU's 4x400-meter relay team. She will be joined in the 4x400 by senior Chantal Curtis (Nassau, Bahamas), and freshmen LaShondra Durias and Nicole Peterson of Louisville's Iroquois High School. On the men's side, freshman distance runner Wesley Korir of Eldoret, Kenya, will look to continue his strong spring while competing in the 5,000-meter run.
Lettman qualified for the NCAA regional on April 3 at the Gatorade Classic in Cape Girardeau, Mo., after earning a first-place finish in the 400 with a time of 54.59 seconds, 0.02 seconds ahead of the necessary qualifying mark.
The women's 4x400 relay team earned its spot by winning the Ohio Valley Conference title on May 8 in Birmingham, Ala., with a time of 3:49.2.
Korir also guaranteed his spot in this week's NCAA regional by winning the OVC championship after finishing with a time of 14:46.91 in the 5,000-meter run on May 8. Overall, Korir is a perfect 6-for-6 in the 5,000-meter run in 2004 with five wins coming during the outdoor season.
"All five of these athletes have really worked hard to earn their spots at LSU," said second-year MSU head coach Norbert Elliott. "I'm very, very proud of them for how hard they've worked. I think it speaks volumes for them and for our track program at Murray State to have these five athletes competing this weekend."
The preliminary round of the women's 400-meter dash is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday, with the finals set for Saturday at 5:45 p.m. The men's 5,000-meter final is set for Friday at 8:20 p.m., while the women's 4x400-meter relay final is set for Saturday at 8 p.m.
"Wesley's been winning all season long, but this weekend will be the toughest test he's had," said Elliott. "Our 4x400 squad has really made some great strides to get to this point, and they've got nothing to lose on Saturday night, which should allow them to really go for it.
"Joan's been running solidly all year, and I feel like she's going to have a strong meet because she's had a lot of good workouts leading up to this week. There's no pressure on her or the others. We're confident they'll all do a great job this weekend."
Elliott hopes this weekend's trip to the NCAA Regional Championship will serve as both a positive recruiting tool for his program and a strong motivator for the returning athletes.
"Competing at the NCAA's is the best type of marketing for our track program," said Elliott. "It makes recruiting easier and it makes coaching easier. It's easier to sell the program to a kid when you've got athletes competing at the national level, and it really raises the bar for all of your athletes. This weekend should really help our program."
