So. Erin Richard

So. Chris Clark

CLARION’S RICHARD, CLARK QUALIFY FOR NCAA NATIONAL MEET

Meet to be held May 25-27 in Emporia, Kansas

            Two Clarion University sophomore track stars – Erin Richard (Erie/McDowell) and Chris Clark (Hadley/Commodore Perry) – have qualified for the NCAA Division II national meet May 25-27 in Emporia, Kansas.

            Richard, who won women’s PSAC Titles in the 1,500 and 3,000 two weeks ago, will compete in the 3,000 and 5,000 at NCAA’s.

            Clark, who finished third in the men’s 5,000 at PSAC’s, will run in both the 5,000 and 10,000 at NCAA’s.

            “Both of these athletes have worked and trained very hard to get to nationals,” Clarion’s second-year head coach Daniel Caulfield said. “What they have done over the past year is pretty impressive mileage wise. They have both put in excess of 3,000 miles over the past 12 months. That puts them in the position they are in now.”

            Richard enters the national meet as the No. 8 seed in the 3,000 and the No. 10 seed in the 5,000 having set school records in both events this year to qualify for NCAA’s. Her top time in the 3,000 is 9:59.56, while her top mark in the 5,000 is 17:06.01.

            “Erin has the best shot at being an All-American, which goes to the top eight finishers,” Caulfield said.

            In order for Richard to have a shot at an All-American finish, which hasn’t been done at Clarion by a women's track athlete since both Melissa Terwilliger and Carrie Bullman achieved the feat in 2003, she will have to get through qualifying races in both events.

            “There are 16 entrants in each event,” Caulfield said. “The top 12 will move onto the finals.”

            Clark is ranked 16^th in the 10,000 and 18^th in the 5,000. He set the school record in both events this year running the 10K in a time of 30:23.51 and the 5K in a time of 14:32.37. At nationals, the 5K will have a qualifying race and a finals race while the 10K will have one race.

            “Chris’ main event is the 10K, which is Thursday (May 25),” Caulfield said. “That is his big event. He will run the 5K Friday, but the 10K is big for him.”

            Caulfield believes having both runners qualify for NCAA’s as sophomores has benefits both now and in the future.

            “It’s great,” Caulfield said. “They are going to be obviously nervous. But by getting there as sophomores, there will be much less pressure on them when this time of year comes around in the future.”

            Despite the nerves, Caulfield doesn’t believe either runner will be satisfied with just getting to NCAA’s.

            “At the beginning of the year they might have been satisfied to qualify for nationals,” Caulfield said. “But as the weeks and months have gone by, they realized they rank highly among competition nationally.”

            GOLDEN EAGLES NOTES – Dan Patton is the last Clarion men’s athlete to earn All-American honors when he finished seventh in the decathlon last year … The women’s team was 9^th and the men’s team 13^th at PSAC’s this year … Richard’s 3K qualifying race is May 25 with the finals May 26, while her 5K qualifying race is May 26 with the finals May 27 … Clark will run the 10K May 25 and the 5K qualifying race May 26. The 5K finals are set for May 27 … Fans can follow the action on-line at http://flashresults.com/flashwest.