CLARION’S URBAN SET TO COMPETE AT NCAA’S MARCH 10-11

First Eagle to qualify for NCAA Indoor’s

            Holly Urban, a junior 800-meter runner on the Clarion University women’s indoor track and field team, is set to compete at the NCAA Indoor National Meet Friday and Saturday in Boston.

            Urban (Doylestown/Central Bucks East) is the first Golden Eagle to qualify for the NCAA Indoor meet since Clarion started an indoor team in 2003.

            “I am just really happy for Holly,” Clarion’s second-year head coach Daniel Caulfield said. “She has put in a lot of work and is a talented individual. That hard work and talent is paying off at this point.”

            Urban, the PSAC runner-up in the 800, earned a place at nationals when she ran a 2:14.23 at Kent State Feb. 18. She is seeded 14^th out of 16 in Friday’s prelims, but Caulfield believes she can make Saturday’s finals.

            “She is running in the second heat Friday and is in a great position at the start (the outside lane),” Caulfield said. “With a little luck and determination, I think she can make the finals. At that point, she would need to beat I think only one person to finish eighth and be an All-American. I won’t be shocked if she would do that. She has a good chance. I think she is capable of running in the 2:13 range, which will put her in the hunt to be an All-American.”

            According to Caulfield, the reason the outside lane is a good position for Urban is because she won’t be cut off by anyone when the runners move to the inside lane at the 200-meter mark.

            “She can dictate the race she wants to run,” Caulfield said. “She doesn’t have to worry about what anyone else is doing. She can run her pace.”

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES – Urban is coming off a very success PSAC Indoor Championship meet where she helped Clarion earn 18 points on its way to a school-best sixth place finish. In addition to her second-place finish in the 800, she was a member of the PSAC Championship Distance Medley Relay Team.