Wake Forest University
NCAA East Regional
Vaughn and Bingham Punch Tickets To NCAA Track Championships
5/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
May 30, 2009
Complete Results | Wake Forest Results
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Senior Michael Bingham and junior Caroline Vaughn each set school-records and punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships Saturday evening at the NC A&T's Irwin Belk Track on the final day of the 2009 NCAA East Regionals.
Bingham came into the final with the fourth-best qualifying time after cruising through his heat of the prelims Friday night. He got to the track Saturday and was battling a case of food poisoning but turned in a gutsy school-record time of 45.05.
After being called out of the blocks twice, the 400-meter race got underway and Bingham got out to a fast start. Starting in lane three, he made up most of the stagger down the back stretch and grabbed the lead as the field made the final turn.
Bingham gave it everything he had down the last 100-meters to win the race and not only broke his own school-record but also set a new facility and East Region record.
"The race was a mental challenge," said Bingham. "I knew if I could stay with the guys until the 200-mark I would be able to bring it home. That's what ended up happening. I was right there through 200 meters with people around me. I am a natural competitor and I just fought down the stretch.
"I think being pulled out of the blocks may have affected some people but it didn't get me too much," Bingham continued. "I am not a guy that has to get hyped-up for a race but I know some guys are and they were probably affected."
The Burlington, N.C., native now moves on the NCAA Championships and will try to make it a clean sweep, winning both the indoor and outdoor 400-meter national titles in the same season.
"Michael is so impressive because he brings his mind to every race," said Wake Forest Director of Track & Field Annie Bennett. "He was sick and had a rough day but he gave it all he had and ran a very fast time. He came out of this race mentally stronger because he had to face some adversity."
Vaughn also turned in a very gritty performance in the finals of the women's 400-meter hurdles, setting a new school-record with a time of 57.32. She broke Michelle Loyd's time of 58.05 which she set last season.
Like the men's 400-meter race, the women's 400-meter hurdle race was delayed a moment at start. Once it finally got underway, Vaughn peeled out of the blocks and got off to a great start.
Despite clipping the third hurdle, Vaughn kept a good pace and made up most of the stagger through the first 300-meters. Down the final straightaway, Vaughn was digging deep for everything she had and crossed the line fourth and was over a second better than her previous personal-best of 58.46.
"Caroline was extremely focused today," Bennett said. "She got out faster than she ever has and you could just see that she was going to get it done. She went for the win. That was the impressive thing with her today. She showed up today and gave it her all."
In the finals of the women's 400-meter dash, senior Melissa Council got off to a bit of a slow start and never really made up any ground, crossing the line seventh with a time of 54.10. Only the top-5 runners from the race automatically advanced to the NCAA Championships and Council will now wait and see if she receives an at-large bid.
Junior Thomas Sensing competed in the men's discus Saturday evening, which was his third event of the weekend. He tossed 155-06 on his third attempt but it wasn't enough to make the finals of the competition.
Sensing finished fifth in the finals of the men's javelin on Friday and qualified for his first NCAA Championships.
The day was capped-off with the running of both the men's and women's 4x400-meter relays.
For the women, Council and Vaughn returned to run the opening two legs and turned in good times. Vaughn then passed off to Alex Gove who ran a great leg and was followed by another strong leg from anchor Nicole Castronuova. The team finished seventh overall in the event with a time of 3:40.52 which is the second-fastest time the team has ever run.
For the men, the team was sort of pieced together. Junior Brent LaRue normally runs the opening leg but a hamstring injury he suffered two weeks ago forced him to scratch and after Bingham's gutsy performance in the open 400-meters, he just didn't have enough left to compete.
Thus, junior Tyler Dodds ran the opening leg and passed off to Jon Reid. Reid then handed off to Allen Lunkenheimer and senior Phillip Warsaw, running with a pulled muscle in his leg, finished off the relay with a time of 3:21.55.
Bingham, Vaughn and Sensing have automatically advanced to the NCAA Championships by virtue of their performances this weekend. Sophomore Anna Nosenko will also likely receive an at-large bid to the championships in the 5,000-meter run as she finished seventh Friday evening and her time of 16:09.05, which she ran at the Oregon Twilight meet two weeks ago, ranks her high enough on the NCAA descending order list.
The NCAA Championships will held be June 10-13 at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.
Players Mentioned
