 Two Billikens Head to USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships
June 24, 2009 ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University freshmen Brittney Cloudy (St. Louis, Mo./Marquette) and Dahmar Smiles (Laurel, Md./Meade) will compete at this weekend's USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. This is the first time that SLU has sent more than one athlete to the event. Cloudy, the Atlantic 10 Indoor champion in the triple jump and an NCAA regional qualifier outdoors, competes in the triple jump Sunday at 1 p.m. (CT). She will look to surpass her school-record mark of 40 feet, 11.50 inches, which was accomplished at the Louisville Twilight May 15. "Brittney has had a long season, but she has still been training and competing well," SLU head coach Jon Bell said. "If she jumps what she is capable of jumping, she should advance to the final. This meet is a continuation of her fantastic freshman year." Smiles qualified for the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, the first Billiken to qualify for multiple events. The 110-meter hurdles gets underway Friday at 1 p.m. (CT) with the final scheduled for later that evening. The opening round of the 400-meter hurdles is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. and the final will follow later in the day. Smiles holds school-record times of 14.65 and 53.12 in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, respectively. "Dahmar stands a good chance to make the final in the 110-meter hurdles, and he has an even better chance to qualify for the final in the 400-meter hurdles," Bell said. "His goal is to finish in the top two in one of the events to qualify for the Pan Am Games."
The 2009 U.S. Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships serve as the selection meet for the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, which will be held July 31 - Aug. 2 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The top two finishers in each event will qualify to compete in those Championships. |
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