St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
NCAA Regional Championships
Frederick Jumps On To NCAA Finals At Drake University
6/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
June 2, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's track & field freshman Priscilla Frederick had a standout performance this weekend at the NCAA Regionals in Tallahasee, Fla. With her jump-off win against Maryland's Toni Aluko, Frederick qualified for the NCAA Finals in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11.
Frederick and senior Maxcine Foster competed at the NCAA East Regional hosted by Florida State University on Friday and Saturday.
A native of Sicklerville, N.J., Frederick, who has been consistently showing championship form all season, finished fifth overall in the East Regionals with a height of 1.76 meters (5 feet, 9.25 inches).
In the first round, Frederick and Aluko tied at the height, forcing a jump off to see break the tie and advance the winner to the NCAA National Finals hosted by Drake University.
In the jump off, both Frederick and Aluko missed the first height of 1.81 meters. For the second try at 1.77 meters (5 feet, 9.75 inches), Aluko missed her first attempt, but Frederick came out ready to win as she cleared the bar to secure her spot in Des Moines. The height was the best for Frederick all season.
"Priscilla has been a tremendous competitor all year," said head coach Jim Hurt. "In that type of competition she came through huge. It shows she's a championship athlete, getting into the top 5, then to win the jump-off spot. She just handles whatever comes her way. She's really excited about going to the finals in two weeks."
Frederick's appearance at the National Finals will be the second time in four years a St. John's athlete has appeared at the event. In 2006, Shernette Hyatt-Davis and Blessing Egwu went to the Nationals competing in the 200-meter and hammer, respectively. In 2004, Kaydien Ried finished 10th in the NCAA 400-meter dash. Red Storm track & fiend athletes have competed in the National Finals 16 of the past 18 years.
In the 400-meter dash, Foster finished second in her heat after South Carolina's Brandi Cross. She finished at 54.38, good for 13th out of 30 East Regional competitors. She was just .05 seconds shy of making the top 12 which would have qualified her for the at-large pool.
Foster's East Regional appearance ends her successful three-year career with the Red Storm. Originally a transfer from G.C. Foster in Jamaica, the fifth-year senior made the most of her injury plagued collegiate career and qualified for the NCAAs the past two seasons. Her advancement from the qualifier list to the East Regionals was a career highlight for the Westmoreland, Jamaica, native.
Foster will continue to compete in hopes of making it to the Jamaican Nationals at the end of the month. She will run this weekend at the Friendship Games on Long Island. If she can break the 52 second mark, she has a good chance of making a relay team at the Jamaican Nationals.
Players Mentioned
