Sikes Victorious In 5,000m At NCAA East Regionals

Friday, May 25

Gainesville, Fla.

All Day

Wake Forest University

NCAA East Regional Championships

5/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field

May 25, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -

The Wake Forest men's and women's track and field teams were in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday for the first day of the NCAA East Regional Championships. The opening day of competition was mainly for qualifying heats in multiple events, with the finals of those events being held on Saturday.

The top five finishers per event at the East Regionals will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif. After the automatic bids are established by the NCAA, the remaining field for the championships will be determined based upon the student-athlete's best mark of the season.

Having already automatically qualified in the 10,000-meter run previously in the season, senior Michelle Sikes used Friday to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 5,000-meter run in impressive fashion. The three-time All-America honoree won the 5,000m by 17 seconds to book her spot in Sacramento. The Lakewood, Ohio, native ran a time of 15: 52.55 to pace the field.

In the same event, junior Caitlin Chrisman placed 15th in a time of 16:41.54.

Competing in the preliminaries of the 400-meter dash, junior Michael Bingham ran a time of 46.23 to finish second overall and qualify for the finals of the event tomorrow.

Also qualifying for Saturday's finals was the men's 4x100-meter relay team. Consisting of junior Kevin Marion, senior Eric Seely, Bingham and freshman Jonathan Reid, the team ran a time of 40.68 to qualify in seventh place.

Senior Lindsay Neuberger placed seventh in the finals of the women's shot put to barely miss automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Her toss of 50-10 1/4 was just under three inches short of the fifth place finish that would have punched her ticket to Sacramento.

Marion barely missed automatic qualification as well, placing sixth in the men's long jump. His leap of 24-3 3/4 was just 1 1/4 inches short of the fifth place finisher.

Marion and Seely were also in competition in the 200-meter dash. Marion placed 16th in a time of 21.14 while Seely came in 26th in 21.39.

In the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Phillip Warsaw ran a time of 55.06 to place 31st.

On the women's side, junior Melissa Council placed 18th in the 400-meter dash in a time of 55.01.

In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Caroline Vaughn placed 33rd in a time of 14.80. Fellow freshman Alexandra Gove placed 24th in the 400-meter hurdles (1:02.19) while junior Michelle Duffey came in 12th (1: 00.21). Duffey's time was a new seasonal best.

Sophomores Allison Kieffer and Nicole Schappert were both in the 1,500-meter preliminaries. Kieffer placed 21st in a time of 4:29.54 while Schappert came in 27th in 4:33.24.

Bingham, senior Michael Hauck (javelin) and the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay teams will all be in competition on Saturday and attempting to qualify for the 2007 NCAA Track and Field Championships. Fans can check live reults at .