Wake Forest Set to Compete at NCAA East Regionals

5/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field

May 27, 2015

Live Results | Meet Schedule (PDF) | Men's Performance List | Women's Performance List

By Josh Gresh, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeTrack)

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - With the ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the rear view mirror, the Wake Forest track and field teams now set its sights on the NCAA East Regional this weekend at North Florida University's Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.

Wake Forest had a total of 13 athletes qualify for the NCAA East Regional, the most the Deacons have qualified since 2009 when the team also had 13 competitors qualify. The 2009 group included Wake Forest track All-Americans Michael Bingham and Brent LaRue, both who when on to compete in the Olympics.

The 2015 East Regional begins on Thursday with the men's hammer throw and women's javelin first round at noon. The first running event on Thursday begins with the first round of the women's 400m hurdles at 4:30 p.m.

There are a total of six that qualified on the men's side and seven made the cut for the women. Between the two teams, seven will compete in field events, with the remaining six competing on the track.

For the men, 1,500m school record holder Simon Holden will compete in the event which he set the school record in this season at the Virginia Challenge clocking a personal-best time of 3:41.92. Holden earned All-ACC Second Team honors at the championships finishing in fifth place. He also set a personal-best time in the 800m at the Georgia Invitational, but will focus on the 1,500m at the regional.

Joining Holden in the 1,500m is senior Kyle Graves, who has now qualified for the event for the third consecutive year. Graves set a new personal record time of 3:42.89 in the 1,500m at the Virginia Challenge, which earned him his third consecutive qualification for the regional. He currently holds the school record in the outdoor mile, which he set last summer at the Music City Carnival.

Freshman Sebastian Fischbach will be the third Deacon to compete in the 1,500m on the men's side in Jacksonville, Fla. The Vienna, Austria native put in a strong final effort at the ACC Outdoor Championships clocking a PR time of 3:44.86 to qualify. Fischbach has also competed in the 3,000m this season.

In the field events for the men, John Maurins, Charlie Ionata, and Max Adams will all be competing for Wake Forest. John Maurins has put together an impressive freshman campaign finishing second and earning All-ACC First Team honors in the shot put at the ACC Championships. His heroics and monster PR throw on his final attempt solidified his regional spot. Maurins' mark of 18.73m (61-5.5) was not only his personal-best, but it is the second longest recorded mark in the event in school history.

Ionata qualified in the hammer throw for the Demon Deacons as he has set the school record twice in the event already this season. His record-breaking mark of 64.14m (210-5) at the Georgia Invitational qualifies for the regional. Ionata also earned All-ACC Second Team honors in the hammer at the ACC Championships after taking sixth place in the event.

Adams has also done well during his first year with Wake Forest as he qualified for the men's discus. His mark of 53.28m (174-10) helped him qualify for the regionals. He also competes in the shot put for the Demon Deacons.

The women have a total of seven athletes competing in the regional with four competing in field events and three in track events. Leading the way is senior Nyki Caldwell, the ACC Outdoor High Jump Champion. After her championship, she completed the sweep of both the ACC indoor and outdoor titles for the season, the first time that a Wake Forest female has done so in a field event. Her championship-winning and season-best mark of 1.78m (5-10) qualifies her for the regional. Her mark is currently tied for 23rd in the east region.

Jessie Merckle's strong mark of 52.61m (172-7) at the Wake Forest Open qualifies her for the javelin at the regional. Her toss was the second-best throw of her career and currently ranks 11th in the NCAA for women's javelin. Merckle finished second at the ACC Championships, earning All-ACC First Team honors. She currently holds the school record in the event with a 53.94m (177-0) mark in 2014.

Rounding out the women's field event competitors are pole vaulters Sydney White and Katie Adair. White, a 2014 Third Team All-American, will look earn to improve on those honors in her junior season. Her top height of 4.05m (13-3.5) at the High Point VertKlasse Meeting qualified her for postseason competition. Adair also qualified with a 4.02m (13-2.25) mark at the Georgia Invitational to qualify.

For the track events, Samantha Jones, Kathleen Darling, and Kathryn Lazarchick will all compete for Wake Forest. Jones will be competing in the 5,000m, an event where she has made massive improvement. Her career-best time of 16:12.44 at the Virginia Challenge bested her previous personal record by more than 16 seconds and is the fifth-best time in Wake Forest history for the event. Jones earned All-ACC Second Team honors in the 5,000m finishing in fourth place at the ACC Championships, just missing out on a first team selection.

Darling will compete in 10,000m for the Demon Deacons, an event that she earned All-ACC Second Team honors and a fourth place finish at the ACC Championships. Her personal-best time of 34:42.32 at the Virginia Challenge earned her a spot in the regional. The time also ranks ninth in Wake Forest history.

Lararchick rounds out the women's competitors as she qualified for the 1,500m. Her career-best time of 4:23.26 at the Virginia Challenge punched her ticket to the regional. She finished ninth in the event at the conference championships.

The meet at North Florida begins on Thursday at 12 p.m. and will continue until semifinal rounds are complete on Saturday.