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Six Western Carolina athletes qualify for national track meet
Six Western Carolina athletes – the most in school history – qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championship at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
The meet was scheduled to begin Wednesday and continue through Saturday. Event winners will be declared national champions, with the top eight finishers – plus the top eight Americans in the individual events only – garnering All-American status.
Leading the way for WCU are three automatic qualifiers. Senior Raquel Ramseur and junior Manteo Mitchell are competing in the women’s and men’s 400-meter dash events, respectively. The men’s 400-meter relay team also received an automatic berth.
Ramseur is ranked 20th in the nation with a time of 53.08 after finishing fifth at the East Regional in Tallahassee, Fla. Mitchell, who ran third in the men’s East Region finals, stands 21st nationally with a time of 46.25.
The 400-meter relay team consists of seniors Mitchell and Zeb Johnson and sophomores Christian Bethune and Dominique Young. The foursome enter the national championship seeded 12th in the NCAA with a time of 39.59, less than a second off national leader, LSU (38.67). The group set a WCU school record twice while at the regional meet, breaking the record in the preliminary round before passing the baton quicker in the finals while finishing third.
Johnson will also be competing in the 200 meters. He ranks 26th in 20.78 after placing sixth at the regionals.
Sophomore Matt Evans qualified for the high jump. He finished tied for 10th with seven others at the regionals after clearing 6-9. He is 21st in the nation with a best jump of 2.15 meters.
Nine WCU performers were chosen for the all-regional team.
All six WCU national qualifiers were chosen for the all-region team. Also selected all-region were senior Tangelia Johnson and freshmen Felicia Paulding and Janet Carothers, who teamed with Ramseur on the 400-meter relay team.
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