University of Georgia Athletics
Sylvester Records NCAA Automatic Qualifying Mark
March 04, 2006 | Track & Field
March 4, 2006
Blacksburg, Va. --- Senior Patricia Sylvester headlined Georgia's action at the Virginia Tech Last Chance Meet in Blacksburg, Va., by earning a trip to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the triple jump on Saturday.
Sylvester highlighted Georgia's competitors by locking down an automatic qualifying mark in the triple jump (43 feet, 9 inches). In addition, senior Shenae Dawkins finished with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 43-1.50 in the event.
Sylvester also improved her NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the high jump with a career-best effort of 5 feet, 11.25 inches, which puts her in the nation's top 10 list. Junior Sarah Gretzmacher and senior Jessica Stockard also competed in the high jump, but were not able to qualify for the national meet.
In the shot put, senior Chad McClendon topped the longest throw of his career by notching a mark of 61-3. McClendon's career-best throw bettered his provisional qualifying mark and put him at the 13th spot in the nation.
During additional action Saturday, sophomore Natalie Picchetti 4:47.52 in the mile run at the Alex Wilson Invitational on Notre Dame's campus in South Bend, Ind., which missed an NCAA provisional qualifying mark by .52.
A pair of Georgia athletes has already nailed down NCAA automatic qualifying marks. Junior Jennifer Dahlgren had a school-record weight throw of 73 feet, 9 inches at the Pepsi Invitational on February 5th to lock down her spot in the national meet. In addition, freshman Levern Spencer, who also now tops the Georgia record books, bettered her automatic mark by winning the high jump (6-2) at the conference meet, which also set an SEC Indoor Championships record.
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