Greensboro, N.C. (May 27, 2006)-A day after hammer throwers
Zoran Loncar and
Paul Peulich guaranteed themselves a trip to the NCAA National Championships with a top five finish at the NCAA East Regional, shot putter
Milan Jotanovic added his name to Manhattan's list of throwers headed to Sacramento by placing fifth in the region. Several other Jaspers may also be joining the trio of throwers via at-large bids. With his tenth-place finish on Saturday evening in the high jump,
Chris Sole made himself eligible for an at-large berth, as did hammer throwers
Anders Constantin and
Michael Freeman on day one of the meet.
Jotanovic did not throw particularly well on Saturday afternoon, but even one of his lesser marks of the outdoor season proved good enough for an automatic bid to the National Championships. Jotanovic, who set a new meet record with a throw of 19.30m at the MAAC Outdoor Championships, posted a top mark of 18.57m on Saturday. The sophomore, who earned 2006 NCAA Indoor All-American honors earlier in the year, will be making his second straight trip to California's capital city after qualifying a year ago as a freshman.
Only six centimeters separated Jotanovic from third place in the field, which was occupied by Northeastern's Derek Anderson. Jotanovic recently beat out Anderson for the IC4A Championship, where the Jasper's mark of 19.04 bested Anderson's top throw of 18.76m. Mitchell Pope of NC State claimed second place at the East Regional by throwing 19.03m. Even 2006 NCAA Indoor Champion Garrett Johnson of Florida State threw almost a half meter less than his seed mark of 20.88m en route to capturing the regional crown.
Sole, who set a new personal record a little more than a month ago by clearing 2.14m (7' ?Ľ") at the Metropolitan Championships, cleared 2.06m (6'9") on his first attempt to lock him up in a four-way tie for tenth place. His top mark of the entire season will be compared to those of others around the country that finished between sixth and twelfth in their respective regions to determine who will move onto Sacramento.
The same procedure will determine whether or not Freeman and Constantin will be headed west.
Unfortunately, a bruised heel limited the ability of
Dexter Jules to earn a trip to California. Fighting through the injury, Jules, who withdrew from the IC4A Outdoor Meet, finished 18th at the regionals with a leap of 14.81m. After an indoor season which saw him jump 15.72m at the IC4A Championships, Jules appeared to be poised for an even better spring. The sophomore from South Jersey captured the Penn Relays crown with a mark of 15.67, but was hampered by the nagging ailment, which was sustained at the MAAC Outdoor Championships, over the past few weeks.
On the women's side Tiina Magi closed out her season in fitting fashion by breaking her own school triple jump record. Magi, who became Manhattan's first ever ECAC Triple Jump Champ with her mark of 12.51m, jumped 12.52m in Greensboro. The junior had already broken the indoor triple jump record and equaled the outdoor high jump mark.
