June 10, 2006

Results

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --- Laura Gerraughty and Justin Ryncavage gave the University of North Carolina three individual NCAA titles in one meet for the first time in school history at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State. The Tar Heel men finished tied for ninth with 26 points, their highest finish since 1996.

Gerraughty closed out her career as the most decorated female thrower in school history with her second NCAA outdoor shot put title. Her final throw of the day traveled 60 feet, 1 1/4 inches (18.32 meters) to top Nebraska's Becky Breisch by less than a foot. Gerraughty, who now has four career NCAA titles in the shot put, ends her UNC career as a 10-time All-America performer.

Ryncavage won his first career javelin crown with his first attempt of the day. His mark of 243-4 (74.18m) topped Eric Brown of Arkansas. The Wilkes-Barre, Pa., junior also added an inch to the school record he set in Thursday's preliminaries.

Gerraughty and Ryncavage join Vikas Gowda, who won Friday's discus throw, to give Carolina three individual champions in a single NCAA meet for the first time ever. The last time Carolina had three titles in one meet came in 1996, when Eric Bishop won the high jump, Monique Hennagan won the 800 and Marcus Stokes, Tony McCall, Milton Campbell and Curtis Johnson II won the 400-meter relay at the NCAA outdoor meet.

Megan Kaltenbach was also in action Saturday, finishing 12th in the 1,500 in 4:23.92.

The ninth-place finish for the men made them the second-highest finisher from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Florida State won the team competition with 67 points. The women finished the meet with 18 points, good for a tie for 14th. Miami was the top finisher from the league, taking a tie for seventh with 30 points.