NCAA Division II entries released, plus Tuscon Elite Throwers meet, Daegu video & Shanghai entries...

In the run up to next week's NCAA Division II track & field championships in Charlotte, North Carolina, the Division II Track & Field Subcommittee has announced those accepted into the NCAA Championships.

Seattle Pacific seniors Jessica Pixler and Jane Larson have the top two seeds – with room to spare – for the 1,500 at next week’s NCAA Division II outdoor championships in Charlotte, N.C. They are two of the six Falcons who are on the list of accepted entries for the meet that was released Wednesday morning.

Competition -- including the preliminaries of the 1,500 -- begins Thursday, May 27, and continue through Saturday, May 29 at the Irwin Belk Complex.

Pixler, who enters her final collegiate competition as a heavy favorite, also is the top seed in the 800 meters, and will be joined in that event by fellow senior Lisa Anderberg, who is the eighth seed.

Also in the meet for SPU is sophomore Brittany Aanstad as the No. 6 seed in the javelin; freshman Amanda Alvarez as the co-No. 8 seed in the triple jump, and junior Melissa Peaslee as the No. 11 seed in the pole vault.

Western Washington University is sending seven athletes, three of whom will compete in two events.

Two Vikings are making return visits to nationals. Going for the third time is Sarah Porter who will compete in the women's 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Making a second straight trip is Jordan Welling who is participating in the men's 5,000 and 10,000.

Completing Western's contingent are Ryan Brown in the men's pole vault, Bennett Grimes in the men's 10,000, Alex Harrison in the men's javelin and decathlon, Michael Hoffman in the men's hammer and Courtney Olsen in the women's 3,000 steeplechase.

For Central Washington, freshman sprinter Anthony Wright and hammer throwers Torrie Self and Tyler Fischer will represent the Wildcats in Charlotte.

Wright has the best qualifying mark of any of the Wildcats' three qualifiers for nationals, having posted the sixth-best time in the nation in the men's 100-meter dash this season. The freshman ran a conference-record 10.43 seconds in the event at last Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. His time is also the fastest in the West Region this year.

Self earned an automatic berth into the national championships with her school- and conference-record hammer throw earlier this season at the WWU Twilight in Bellingham. Self is currently seeded 11th for the national championships with her record mark of 54.67 meters (179 feet, 4 inches), which is also the top throw in the West Region this season.

Fischer will make his third trip in four years to the outdoor national championships, including his second appearance in the hammer at nationals. His best mark of 57.86 meters (189 feet, 10 inches) just made the cut to qualify, and he will be seeded 16th in Charlotte. Fischer participated at the Division II National Outdoor Championships in 2007 (hammer) and 2008 (discus), earning All-American honors with a fifth-place discus finish as a sophomore.

In the current USTFCCCA rankings, the Falcons are ranked seventh, and the Vikings are ranked #23 (men), and #25 (women).

The complete men's entry lists for the NCAA Division II championships can be accessed here, while the women's entry lists are available here.

TUSCON ELITE THROWERS MEET--DAY 1

In the first of what is essentially a two-day throwers meet, Vancouver native Kara Patterson set a Drachman Stadium record in the javelin throw with her mark of 60.33m (197-11) to highlight the first day of the Tuscon Elite Throwers meet on the campus of the University of Arizona.

In the women's discus, three time US Olympian Aretha Thurmond from Federal Way finished third with a toss of 196-4 (59.86m).

In the men's discus, former Husky Will Conwell finished fifth with a throw of 191-10 (58.47m), while former WSU standout Drew Ulrich threw 188-10 (57.57m) to place seventh.

Many of the same throwers will return to Tuscon to compete on Saturday.

Complete results from day 1 of the Tuscon Elite meet can be accessed here.

DAEGU 200m VIDEO

Thanks to the power of YouTube, here is the video of the 200m race won by Ryan Bailey, who trains on the Nike campus in Beaverton.

Former Washington Husky All-American Jordan Boase is in the race as well, in lane two.

Boase was originally entered in the 400 meters in Daegu, but was switched to the 200 the day of the meet, according to him, which may have been a good thing for him, as he was fatigued from the 26 hours of travel from his training base in Florida to Korea.



WALTZ & ROME ON PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST FOR SHANGHAI DIAMOND LEAGUE MEET

Former Washington State University All-American Ian Waltz, and Marysville-Pilchuck HS graduate Jarred Rome are on the provisional entry list released by the IAAF for Sunday's Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, China.

The meet will feature Jamaica's Usain Bolt in the men's 200 against Ryan Bailey, who won the 200 in Daegu (see above video) and Netherlands Antilles' Churandy Martina, the former UTEP star who was disqualified at the Beijing Olympics for a lane violation in the finals, that cost his country its first medal of any color.

The most current provisional entries for the Shanghai Diamond League meet are available here.

NOTE: The IAAF, NCAA, USTFCCCA, Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, and Central Washington University's sports information offices contributed to this report.