Yossef Automatically Qualifies for NCAA Championships
March 04, 2001 | Indoor Track
March 4, 2001
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech senior Gezachw Yossef ran an automatic qualifying time of 4:00.92 in the mile run at the Cyclone National Track & Field Qualifier in Ames, Iowa, this weekend, breaking his own school record in the process by almost two full seconds.
Yossef had previously provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships to be held March 9-10 on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. But this weekend's time automatically qualifies him in the mile, and he is provisionally qualified in the 800 meters. He finished fourth in Friday's mile run.
Senior Tami Zachary also competed in the NCAA Last Chance meet on the Iowa State campus, posting times of 7.54 in the 60 meter preliminaries and 7.60 in the 60 meter finals.
Senior Ngozi Iwu posted a school record time of 53.67 in winning the 400 meters, qualifying her provisionally for the national championships, as well.
Shannon Spaulding improved her provisional qualifying time in the 800 meters with a mark of 2:07.91 for fourth on Friday, a personal best for the sophomore. Spaulding also ran at the Last Chance meet in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, posting a time of 2:13.97 for sixth in the event.
The 4x400-meter relay squad of Iwu, Melonie Barrow, D'Andria Brigham and Rachelle Evans came in fourth in a time of 3:42.08, the group's second-fastest time this year.
Tech will have a small group of athletes competing in next week's NCAA Championships, as the rest of the squad prepares for the outdoor season that begins March 15-16 in College Station, Texas.