St. John's University Athletics
Thursday, May 23
St. John's University
vs
NCAA Division I East Preliminary Championships
Leah Anderson Qualifies for NCAA East Preliminary Championships
5/22/2019 11:17:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
Anderson is ranked 23rd in the 400 meter while also earning a spot in the 200 meter race
QUEENS, N.Y. (May 22, 2019) – Following a stellar performance at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships, sophomore Leah Anderson will venture to Jacksonville, Fla., for the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Championships on May 23-25 at Hodges Stadium.
Track & field fans can watch the live broadcast of the three-day meet as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Championships will be available at www.FloTrack.com.
The top 12 competitors from both the East and West Preliminary individual events will qualify for the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas on June 5-8.
"We are excited to see what Leah can do at the NCAA Preliminary," Head Coach Jim Hurt said. "She is coming off of a sensational BIG EAST meet and qualifying in both the 400 meter and 200 meter dashes is quite an accomplishment. Coach Aliann Pompey has done a great job coaching Leah to the regional and Leah is running her best going into the NCAA championship competition."
Since Coach Pompey's arrival in 2014, the former national 400 meter champion has helped guide 13 Johnnies, including Anderson, to the NCAA Regionals.
Anderson kicks off her national title run on Thursday, May 23, at 7:20 p.m., with the 400 meter dash. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native's gold medal performance of 53.10 seconds at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships on May 11 placed her inside the NCAA East Regional top-25, tying Tennessee's Martina Weil. The Johnnies' sprinter broke her personal record with the first-place time while shaving off nearly two seconds from her first outdoor race of the season (54.97) at the Coastal Carolina Invitational on March 8-9.
The second-year Johnnie is also expected to race in the 200 meter dash on Friday, May 24, at 7:30 p.m. She qualified for the race with a time of 23.69 at the Sam Howell Invitational on April 6, ranking 66th among the best competitors in the East region while riding a four-race winning streak heading into the weekend. Two of the four victories were gold medal performances at the Metropolitan and the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships.
With Anderson's qualification, Coach Hurt and his staff have sent at least one participant to the regional competition in 28 consecutive seasons since 1991. The sophomore sensation also becomes the third Johnnie in the last four years to compete in the 400 meter sprint. She joins former St. John's standouts Pariis Garcia (2016) and Maya Stephens (2017, 2018).
Despite Anderson being the only Johnnie slated to compete this weekend in Florida, the 2019 squad finished the year strong with some of its highest rankings in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's (USTFCCCA) weekly standings.
Assistant Coach John McCree's throwers received top-60 recognition in all four outdoor events as a team. The Red Storm's shot putters Amarys Berry, Samantha Morillo, Bernadette McGowan and Najeaya Singleton ranked 36th in the country with an average distance of 13.58 meters. Berry, Morillo and Singleton joined Jennifer Odoemene in the discus, jumping 11 spots on the USTFCCCA leaderboard to 59th place and averaging 41.20 meters this season. Esmeralda Reyes, Eboni Birch, Nina D'Amato and McGowan remained in 45th as a group in the javelin while Odoemene alongside Morillo, Berry and Ashley Walsh kept their 54th spot in the hammer throw.
Track & field fans can watch the live broadcast of the three-day meet as FloTrack Pro subscribers. The subscription will include access to all FloTrack live broadcasts, video on-demand from all events, documentaries, technique videos and more. Coverage of the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Championships will be available at www.FloTrack.com.
The top 12 competitors from both the East and West Preliminary individual events will qualify for the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas on June 5-8.
"We are excited to see what Leah can do at the NCAA Preliminary," Head Coach Jim Hurt said. "She is coming off of a sensational BIG EAST meet and qualifying in both the 400 meter and 200 meter dashes is quite an accomplishment. Coach Aliann Pompey has done a great job coaching Leah to the regional and Leah is running her best going into the NCAA championship competition."
Since Coach Pompey's arrival in 2014, the former national 400 meter champion has helped guide 13 Johnnies, including Anderson, to the NCAA Regionals.
Anderson kicks off her national title run on Thursday, May 23, at 7:20 p.m., with the 400 meter dash. The Mount Vernon, N.Y., native's gold medal performance of 53.10 seconds at the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships on May 11 placed her inside the NCAA East Regional top-25, tying Tennessee's Martina Weil. The Johnnies' sprinter broke her personal record with the first-place time while shaving off nearly two seconds from her first outdoor race of the season (54.97) at the Coastal Carolina Invitational on March 8-9.
The second-year Johnnie is also expected to race in the 200 meter dash on Friday, May 24, at 7:30 p.m. She qualified for the race with a time of 23.69 at the Sam Howell Invitational on April 6, ranking 66th among the best competitors in the East region while riding a four-race winning streak heading into the weekend. Two of the four victories were gold medal performances at the Metropolitan and the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships.
With Anderson's qualification, Coach Hurt and his staff have sent at least one participant to the regional competition in 28 consecutive seasons since 1991. The sophomore sensation also becomes the third Johnnie in the last four years to compete in the 400 meter sprint. She joins former St. John's standouts Pariis Garcia (2016) and Maya Stephens (2017, 2018).
Despite Anderson being the only Johnnie slated to compete this weekend in Florida, the 2019 squad finished the year strong with some of its highest rankings in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association's (USTFCCCA) weekly standings.
Assistant Coach John McCree's throwers received top-60 recognition in all four outdoor events as a team. The Red Storm's shot putters Amarys Berry, Samantha Morillo, Bernadette McGowan and Najeaya Singleton ranked 36th in the country with an average distance of 13.58 meters. Berry, Morillo and Singleton joined Jennifer Odoemene in the discus, jumping 11 spots on the USTFCCCA leaderboard to 59th place and averaging 41.20 meters this season. Esmeralda Reyes, Eboni Birch, Nina D'Amato and McGowan remained in 45th as a group in the javelin while Odoemene alongside Morillo, Berry and Ashley Walsh kept their 54th spot in the hammer throw.
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