By Katie Zigelman, News Staff
Of the five athletes who competed in the first round of NCAA championships, only one – freshman Eric Jenkins – advanced to the semi-finals.
Jenkins will compete to be the second-ever Northeastern national track champion by running in the 1,500-meter race at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa tonight. The last champion was Boris Djerassi, who won the hammer throw in 1975.
Jenkins competed in two events during the first round of NCAA championships in Bloomington, Ind., May 26 to 29. He entered the 1,500-meter run ranked 31st with a seed time of 3:46.04, his personal best, set at the New England Championships May 12 to 14. He qualified for the quarterfinals in this event with a 3:40.05 on the preliminary race – good enough for 13th out of 48. He was second in his flight of 12.
In the quarterfinals he ran a 3:49.18 for 11th place and a spot in the semi-finals and is the only freshman who will compete in the 24-person race. His seed time ranks him 23rd out of the 24 runners, but head coach Sherman Hart said that he has a good chance of advancing even further.
“Eric has a great chance of making it into the finals,” Hart said. “He is running beyond his years. He has no fear and is just having fun with it. If he keeps this up, he will do great.”
Jenkins said he is both excited and nervous for today’s race.
“This is the biggest race I have competed in all year,” he said. “It’s definitely a good feeling – it’s cool to know that I am the only freshman.”
Not only is Jenkins the only freshman running the race, but he is also the first freshman from Northeastern to make it to the semi-finals since Hart began coaching.
Jenkins also competed in the 5,000-meter run at the first round of NCAA championships. He entered the race at 37th with a seed time of 14:09.67 and finished 17th in his 34 person heat with a time of 14:43.24. This race was right after the 1,500-meter race.
Along with Jenkins, four other athletes from Northeastern competed in the East Preliminary Region of NCAA championships. Senior Jonathon Hall entered the 400-meter hurdles ranked 20th with a 51.65 seed time. He ran the event in 52.67, coming in fifth out of the eight-person heat and 27th overall.
Senior Patrick Jablonski entered into both the shot put and the discus throws. He was ranked 45th in the shot put (55 feet, 4.17 inches) and 47th in the discus (168 feet, 9.19 inches). He ended up 11th in his flight and 44th overall in the shot put after throwing it 51 feet, 10.5 inches and did not get a mark in the discus after three fouls.
Senior Althea Charles ranked 13th in the hammer throw, where she was ranked 13th with a toss of 194 feet, 5.85 inches. She threw the hammer 175 feet, 2 inches in the first round of championships which was good enough for 16th in her flight and 33rd overall.
Sophomore Jillena DeCarteret entered into the pole vaulting event with a 17th seed of 13 feet, 3.84 inches. She vaulted over 12 feet, 7.5 inches during the first round tying for 7th place in her flight of 24 athletes and missed qualifying for quarterfinals by four inches.
Hart said he thought his athletes did well during the first round, especially since three of them were there for the first time (Jenkins, DeCarteret and Hall).
“A lot of the times athletes get nervous and don’t do as well their first time. It’s fortunate that they get to come back. Jillena [DeCarteret] just missed qualifying by a couple of inches and as for Jon [Hall] and Althea [Charles] they’re leaving but they have had a great career overall,” Hart said.
As a freshman, Jenkins said he is looking forward to the opportunity of getting back to the NCAA tournament his next three years.
“I’m hoping to keep coming back to big races like these [NCAA championships] and keep improving,” Jenkins said. “Hopefully I’ll get to see myself or the team earn a championship.”
Jenkins’ race is at 6:15 p.m. If he makes it into the Top 12 then he will be competing again in the final round on Saturday at 12:30 in Des Moines, Iowa.
