2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Schedule
DES MOINES, Iowa – The SIUE track and field program will be represented at the USA National Championships this weekend at Drake University. Freshman Jessica Oranika will compete in the junior division and sophomore La'Derrick Ward will compete in the senior division.
"This is a credit to how great of a year our program had," Head Coach Kareem Jackson said. "This is yet another opportunity for us to compete at a very high level. This meet will feature some of the best athletes in the United States, both professional and collegiate."
To be eligible for USA Nationals, all participants must be certified U.S. citizens, and have to meet the qualifying standards set by USA Track & Field.
Oranika will participate in the junior women's 400 meters, which will take place Friday. Should she qualify for finals in the event, Oranika would run again on Saturday.
Following the outdoor season, Oranika was named Ohio Valley Conference Women's Track and Field Freshman of the Year.
The Belleville, Ill. native ran a season-best time of 54.68 in the 400 meters at Western Kentucky April 13, setting a new PR for the first-year Cougar. The finish was just .53 seconds off the school record, and met the USA junior qualifying standard of 55.24.
Ward will compete in the senior men's long jump at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. The Cahokia, Ill. native made history two weeks ago by becoming the first SIUE track and field athlete in school history to qualify for the NCAA Division I National Championships, where he also competed in the long jump.
Ward is SIUE's indoor and outdoor school record holder in the long jump, and posted an outdoor mark of 25 feet, 8.25 inches at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas. The sophomore will compete in a loaded field in the long jump, featuring former U.S. Olympic gold medalists Dwight Phillips and Christian Taylor and Olympic silver medalist Will Claye.
Jackson extended his praise to SIUE Director of Athletics Dr. Bradley Hewitt, as well as the athletic administration as a whole, for the opportunity to compete at national meets such as USA Juniors this weekend.
"I can't begin to express my appreciation to Dr. Hewitt and our administration for the support they've given our program all season," Jackson added. "They've played a huge role in helping to put our program on the national map."
