PAIR QUALIFIES FOR FINALS AT NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK NATIONALS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Chattanooga runners Shannon Wommack and Kathleen Turchin each qualified for the finals later this week at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State campus.

Wommack ran a school-record time 10:08.64 to take first in Heat 2 of the women’s 3000m Steeplechase Wednesday night. She will compete in the finals set for Friday night at 7:05 Pacific Time. 

The Conyers, Ga., junior won the event at the Southern Conference championships in a league record time 10:34.87. She earned a bid to the NCAA Region meet with a then-school record time 10:29.81 at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational in early April. She reset the school mark by more than 10 seconds in at the Mideast Regional in Bloomington, Ind., finishing fourth for an automatic bid to the national meet.

Turchin ran a personal best 10:31.14 in the first heat Wednesday, and won a spot in the finals to be run at 8:10 p.m. Pacific Time Saturday night.

A sophomore from Sugar Hill, Ga., Turchin earned an at-large bid to the finals placing ninth at the NCAA Mideast Regional. She won the event at the league championships, outpacing Wommack by four seconds.

In 2004, Wommack was named All-America in the 5000m race at the national event. She and Turchin each earned All-America status at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships last fall in Terra Haute, Ind.

June 9, 2005
UTC Sports Information
www.GoMocs.com

Anne Wehunt
Sports Information Assistant
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
McKenzie Arena, Room 132
423-425-2122
423-425-4610 fax
423-505-2353 cell