Greensboro, N.C. - University at Albany's Wilfredo de Jesus Elias placed 15th in the men's hammer throw and Tyler Fogarty advanced to the quarterfinal round in the men's 800-meter run to lead their team at the NCAA East Preliminary Round on Thursday, May 27 at North Carolina A&T University's Irwin Belk Track.
de Jesus Elias, who recently broke his own school record in the men's hammer throw at the IC4A Championship and came into the meet ranked 23rd in the East Region, posted a toss that sailed 199-feet, 5-inches in his premier event. The junior was among 16 student-athletes to qualify for the final round by registering his best mark of the afternoon on his second throw during the flight stage.
Fogarty made his move on the final turn of the bell lap in his heat of the first round of the men's 800 and hit the tape in a season-best time of 1:49.08. His mark was also the ninth-fastest time of the day. The junior will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships if he records a top-12 finish in tomorrow evening's quarterfinal round.
The Great Danes also had two student-athletes compete in the men's long jump. Senior Valete Graham, a three-time America East champion who fell one centimeter shy of automatically qualifying for NCAAs in the event last season, finished 22nd by leaping 24-3 on his final jump as a collegian. Kadeem Howell, a redshirt freshman who placed second behind Graham at the America East championship meet, posted a mark of 22-1 in his first NCAA regional appearance.
UAlbany will have five student-athletes competing in four different events at the regional meet tomorrow. Freddie Wills will first compete in the men's high jump at 5 p.m. before Fogarty runs in the men's 800 at 6:30 p.m. Fey Adaramola will race in the first round of the women's 200-meter dash at 8 p.m., while Laura Cummings and Jenn Pierson will run in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase at 9:10 p.m.
Paw Prints: The top-12 finishers in each individual and relay event automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by the University of Oregon, on June 9-12 ... No at-large bids will be awarded under the NCAA's newly-adopted format this year ... Senior Valete Graham finished his career as the school's record holder in the long jump ... He registered his best mark of 24-9.25 at the 2009 America East Conference Championship ... Laura Cummings and Jenn Pierson will look to become the program's first women in six years to advance to NCAAs when they race tomorrow evening ... Teresa Covert, the school's record holder in the 100-meter high hurdles, competed in her premier event at the national meet in 2003 and 2004.
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UAlbany Men's Results
800-Meter Run (First Round): 9. Tyler Fogarty 1:49.08. Long Jump (Qualifying): 22. Valete Graham 24-3, 47. Kadeem Howell 22-1. Hammer Throw (Qualifying): 15. Wilfredo de Jesus Elias 199-5.
Complete Results
