May 26, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - Patriot League schools will combine to send 19 student-athletes to the NCAA Men and Women's Outdoor Track and Field East Regional held at North Carolina A&T's Aggie Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. from Thursday through Saturday.

Most of the Patriot League competitiors come on the men's side with 15 participants, while there will be four women's student-athletes taking part. Army's Domonick Sylve has the highest seed of any Patriot League athlete, as he comes in with the sixth spot in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.79. Bucknell, which won both the Men and Women's Patriot League Championship, and Navy share League honors with six participants apiece.

The spotlight attraction for Patriot League activity is on the javelin, where four student-athletes will take part in the men's event and two on the women's side. The men's group includes Lafayette's Seamus McGuire, who placed sixth in the regional last year and was the Patriot League's lone participant in the NCAA Championship. McGuire, however, is not the top seed among Patriot League competitors this year. Bucknell's Steve Pierce comes in 11th with a mark of 68.62, while teammate Ted Heitzman is 22nd with a 66.60 mark. McGuire comes in as the 29th seed, while Navy's Christopher Ricks is 36th. In the women's javelin, Bucknell's Laura Rycek and Lafayette's Alana Taylor will each compete.

The Patriot League will have a significant presence in a majority of the men's field events. In the pole vault, Lehigh's Khalil Uqdah enters as the 12th seed with a mark of 5.30 meters. Bucknell's Kyle Anthony and Lehigh's Stephen Tutunjian will both participate in the triple jump, with Army's Kurt Bujewski in the discus throw and Navy's Mark Van Orden coming in as the 17th seed in the hammer throw.

Five Patriot League men join Sylve as qualifiers in track events. Army's Andrew Ferrara (800-meter run) and Bucknell's Andrew Huebner (3000-meter steeplechase) and Rob Arent (400-meter hurdles) are all top 25 seeds in their events, while Navy's Cody Rome and Andrew Hanko are both in the 1500-meter run.

The remaining women's student-athletes at the regionals are both from Navy. Jess Palacio will compete in the 1500-meter run, while Krystina Johnson has a spot in the high jump.

For more information, including live results and a live webstream of the events, visit the NCAA East Region Championship page. The top five finishers in each event advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship hosted by the University of Oregon from June 9-12 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.