Official Selections Announced for 2004 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
June 2, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Selections to the 2004 outdoor track and field national championships were announced Tuesday by the NCAA. The Ohio State track and field team will travel nine competitors to the NCAA meet held at the University of Texas at Austin June 9-12. Five from the men’s side will travel to Austin boasting some of the top marks in the nation as they vie for national titles and All-America honors. Four from the women’s side also will aspire for national recognition.
Leading the men’s unit are senior Joel Brown (Baltimore, Md./ Woodlawn) and junior Aaron Fisher (Indianapolis, Ind./ Franklin), who both sit atop the national rankings in their respective events. Brown, who won the NCAA Mideast regional championship in the 110-meter hurdles last Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., holds the No. 1 spot in that event at 13.45. He won the regional event in a time of 13.39, but the wind-reading of positive 4.6 meters-per-second exceeded the allowable mark for the national lists. Fisher has held the top ranking in the men’s steeplechase for more than a month after clocking an 8:37.33 to win the event at the Jesse Owens Track Classic April 30. Last weekend, Fisher placed second at the regional in the steeple (8:50.10) to assure his place at the NCAA meet.
Also placing among the high marks on the men’s side are seniors Rob Myers (Rushville, Ohio/ Fairfield Union) and Dan Taylor (Middlefield, Ohio/ Berkshire). Taylor, who won the men’s hammer regional title last Friday with an Ohio State, Big Ten and Mideast regional record heave of 223 feet, 8 inches (223-8), is ranked No. 3 in the hammer after his regional performance, while also holding the second spot in the country in the shot put at 67-8, set May 1 at the Jesse Owens Track Classic. Myers, who scored runner-up in the Mideast regional 1,500-meter run Saturday to solidify his trip to Austin, currently stakes fifth nationally in the event.
Rounding out the men’s selections is another distance runner in junior Brian Olinger (Fresno, Ohio/ Ridgewood), who placed behind Fisher in the Mideast regional steeplechase Saturday. Olinger rates at No. 21 nationally after pacing an 8:50.02 April 22 at the Hillsdale Distance Carnival.
The women feature several strong national contenders as well, highlighted by multiple-event qualifiers Rosalind Goodwin (Jr., Prospect, Ky./ Ballard) and Amarachi Ukabam (So., Creve Couer, Mo./ Marquette). Goodwin leapt past her own Ohio State record to claim runner-up in the triple jump (43-7.75) last Saturday in Baton Rouge one night after taking third in the long jump. The Prospect, Ky. native is ranked No. 10 in the triple jump with her regional length and No. 13 in the long jump with her season-best and Ohio State record 20-11.75, set April 17at the All-Ohio Track Championships.
Ukabam used a pair of season-bests en route to two third-place finishes at the regional last weekend to assure her trip to nationals. The Creve Couer, Mo. product tossed an Ohio State all-time best 54-7.50 to advance in the shot put and launched a season-mark of 181-9 for her second third-place tally in the discus. She is ranked at No. 9 in the discus and No. 16 in the shot.
Another thrower climbed the national lists at the regional as junior Keturah Lofton (Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville) smashed her own Big Ten and Ohio State record in the hammer throw to take runner-up in the event, reaching 204-7. Her length at regionals places 12th in the hammer list heading to nationals.
Lastly, senior Molly Logan (Philadelphia, Pa./ Penn Wood) received a bid in the 100-meter hurdles based on her time of 13.27, set April 23 at the Penn Relays. Logan placed ninth at the Mideast regional after clipping the final four hurdles in the race. The 13.27 time ranks 21st in the country.
Complete national lists may be viewed at www.ncaasports.com/outdoortrack/mens/story/7380583.
Ohio State begins competition at the 2004 NCAA Track and Field Championships at 2 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday, June 9 as Ukabam will compete in the women’s discus qualifying round.
