May 27, 2006

Results

GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Junior Justin Ryncavage claimed the men's javelin title and both the North Carolina men's and women's squads posted top five finishes at the NCAA East Regional meet Saturday at Belk Track on the campus of North Carolina A&T. Ryncavage edged Monmouth's Bobby Smith by just two inches to become UNC's third individual champion of the meet.

Ryncavage registered a winning mark of 240 feet, 10 inches (73.40 meters) on his first throw of the day to hold off Smith and the rest of the field. He joins Laura Gerraughty and Vikas Gowda, who won regional titles Friday.

Gerraughty and Gowda both followed up their wins with top-five finishes that will send them to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Gerraughty took second in the women's discus with a throw of 172-10 (52.39m), while Gowda was fourth in the shot put with a mark of 61-1 1/4 (18.62m).

The discus was a very productive event for the Tar Heel women. In addition to Gerraughty, senior Marija Kurtovic and sophomore Jocelyn White also advanced to nationals with top-five finishes. Kurtovic was fourth (162-6/49.54m), narrowly besting White in fifth (162-2/49.43m).

On the track, senior Cassie King had her best effort of the season in the steeplechase to finish second overall. Her time of 10:16.33 placed her behind Brown's Anna Willard and well ahead of the the rest of the field.

Megan Kaltenbach also scored a top-five finish with her strong effort in the 1,500 meters. Kaltenbach finished in 4:23.88 to take fifth and earn a spot in the NCAA meet. Georgia Kloss was seventh in the 800 in 2:11.08, but will likely earn a spot in the NCAA field as an at-large selection.

Sheena Gordon also turned in a seventh-place performance, leaping a season-best 43-3 (13.18m).

The Carolina women finished the meet with 49 points, good for fourth place in the region, which is made up of schools in every state on the East Coast. South Carolina (79.5) outlasted Miami (71) for the team title.

The men tallied 33 points to tie Virginia Tech for fifth place. Florida State (97) dominated the meet, finishing 33 points ahead of runner-up Florida.

The official list of NCAA qualifiers will be announced Tuesday, while the meet begins Wednesday, June 7.