Wake Forest Athletics
Bingham, LaRue Head to NCAA Indoor Championships
3/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
March 10, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senior Michael Bingham and junior Brent LaRue will both be competing this weekend at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in College Station, Texas, on the campus of Texas A&M.
Both athletes earned their way to the championships through strong performances at the ACC Indoor Championships two weeks ago.
LaRue turned in a personal-best and NCAA automatic mark of 5,672 in the heptathlon at the ACCs. He started the competition off by running a season-best 7.06 in the 60-meter dash and jumped a personal-best of 6-05.50 in the high jump. He would then close the event by running a personal-best 2:37.68 in the 1,000-meter run to blow away the field.
LaRue finished third overall in the particularly strong field as the top-three competitors all posted NCAA automatic marks. Two years ago, LaRue won the heptathlon title at the ACCs with a score of 5,617.
On the final day of the meet, LaRue again ran a personal-best 7.98 in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles to take second and earn his second All-ACC honors of the competition.
This will be LaRue's second trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships. His only appearance was in 2007 when he injured his hip competing in the long jump. It was the same injury that forced him to redshirt last season.
Bingham will be looking for his third All-America honors this weekend in the 400-meter dash. He took fourth at the 2007 indoor championships with a school-record time of 46.12 and two-months later he would finish fifth at the outdoor championships.
The Burlington, N.C., native came into this year's ACC Championships with the top-time in the 400-meter and would cruise through the prelims with the top-qualifying mark. He then flew out of the gate in his heat of the finals and never gave it up as he turned in a season-best time of 46.23. It was his second 400-meter indoor title at the ACC Championships.
Bingham's time of 46.23 is tied for the fifth-best time of the any of the competitors in this weekend's meet.
The heptathlon is scheduled to get underway at Noon C.T., on Friday. The final three events will start at Noon C.T., on Saturday.
The prelims of the 400-meter dash are scheduled for 5:15 C.T., on Friday evening with the finals set for Saturday at 5:50 p.m. C.T.
ESPN360.com will stream portions of the championships live both days. Remaining coverage will be available on www.NCAA.com. Additionally, ESPN2 will air a 90-minute show at 2:30 p.m. E T., Monday, March 23. For complete results, please visit www.NCAA.com.
Players Mentioned
