22 May 2004
St. Kitts and Nevis will have three student-athletes competing at the second-ever NCAA Regional Outdoor Track & Field Championships, to be held at various venues in the U.S. on Friday May 28 and Saturday May 29, 2004.
* Tanika Liburd and Larry Inanga will compete in the Mid-East Regionals to be held at the Louisiana State University, Bernie Moore Track Stadium, Baton Rouge, Lousisiana (see picture below).
* Virgil Hodge will compete in the Mid-West Regionals to be held at the Texas A&M University, Frank G. Anderson Track & Field Complex, College Station, Texas.
Each competing student-athlete must qualify by either meeting a predetermined standard established by the NCAA during the regular 2004 outdoor season, or by winning the event at their conference championship. The top five individual finishers in an event and the top three relays at each of the four NCAA regional meets automatically advance to the National Championship, to be held at the University of Texas in Austin, from Wednesday June 8 through Saturday June 12.
Tanika Liburd, a freshman at the University of Southern Mississippi will compete in the Long Jump, ranked 19th nationally and 4th in the Mid-East region. She posted an NCAA regional-qualifying time in most of her competitions this season, and turned in a season and personal best distance of 6.22m (20' 5"), a St. Kitts/Nevis National Record. She won the Conference USA Championships with a distance of 6.03m (19' 9.5"), and won "Athlete of the Week" honours in March. She won in the Long Jump event in 6 consecutive finals, from 20th March to 14th May 2004. Tanika will also compete in the 4x100m with her U-Miss teammates. The team won the Conference Championships in a time of 45.21s, a new school record and is ranked No. 7 in the Mid-West and in the top 30 nationally.
Virgil Hodge, a freshman at the Texas Christian University, Texas, will compete in the 100m, ranked 31st nationally and 12th in the Mid-West region. She posted NCAA regional-qualifying times in most of her competitions this season, and turned in a season-best distance of 11.48s (wind aided) & 11.52 (legal) in the 100m, and 23.70s in the 200m, both personal bests. She won bronze medals in the 100m and 200m at the Conference USA Championsips. Virgil will also compete in the 4x100m with her TCU teammates. The team placed 3rd in the Conference Championships in a time of 45.21s, but has a best time of 44.48s and is ranked 3rd in the Mid-West and in the top 20 nationally.
Larry Inanga, a senior at DePaul University. Illinois, will compete in the 400m, ranked 101st nationally, and 27th in the Mid-East region. He had a season-best time of 47.23s. He placed 7th in the 400m at the Conference USA Championships. He is a member of the National 4x400m Record team with 3:10.93. |
