Terriers Set for NCAA East Preliminaries
May 22, 2013 | Men's Track & Field
May 22, 2013
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Five members of the Boston University men's track and field team will compete at the 2013 NCAA Division I Men's Track and Field Preliminary Championships which begin on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.
The Terriers will take part in six events over the weekend, as freshman Reuben Horace, seniors Tewado Latty and R.J. Page, junior Rich Peters and graduate student Zachary Ray will represent BU.
"I’m looking forward to it," director of track & field and cross country Robyne Johnson said. "I’m expecting some great performances from all of our kids. They’re really coming into their element. The kids get this extra NCAA experience and to be here is quite an honor."
Ray will be the first Terrier on the track as the 400m hurdles will be the opening event of the weekend on Thursday (5 p.m.). The graduate student will also take part in the 100m hurdles. He was successful in the 400m hurdles last season as a senior at Maryland, advancing to the national semifinal. This season, Ray had the top time in the conference in both the 110m hurdles (14.01) and the 400m hurdles (51.16).
"I can’t say enough good things about Zach," Johnson said. "He is such a positive person, a great teammate, and I think he added a lot to our team in terms of being a team player. This guy puts it all on the line every week. He’s a great role model for all of our kids, not just the men’s team. We’re really happy he came here and wish we could have him another three years. I think he has a great shot to make it to the NCAA Championships once again."
This will be the third straight appearance at the East prelims for both Latty and Page, as the sprinters will compete in the 400m dash and 200m dash, respectively. Latty enters the weekend with momentum after a personal-best time of 46.15 seconds at the IC4A Championships propelled him to 20th in the nation. Page owns the fastest 200m dash time in the conference at 21.07 seconds.
"It’s so great to see them here because they’re in a position where they’re PRing every week and it’s great to see them hang in there because they could have given up with all the injuries they had the first couple years they were here," Johnson said. "It speaks to the type of personalities they have and the stick-to-itiveness that they have. They’ve been getting it done all year; both of them have set school records and personal records. Their careers have been great. I’m really glad they came to BU and I’m proud of their efforts."
Peters enters the 1,500m run as the top seed after he set a new school record at the Payton Jordan Invitational in April with a time of 3:40.05. He was a First Team All-American in this event last year after finishing sixth in the national final and ranks sixth in the nation so far this year.
"Rich thrives on this kind of competition," Johnson said. "As the level of the fields comes up, so does he. We’re looking for some good things. He’s a good competitor, very talented, and I think he’ll do an excellent job here and make to the NCAAs where he can really shine.
Horace has a chance to cap off a fantastic freshman season at the East prelims as he takes part in the hammer throw. His mark of 57.54 meters is best among America East athletes this season. Horace was also tops in the conference during the indoor season in the weight throw (19.00m)
"What a great kid," Johnson said. "He's very positive and we couldn’t ask for a better person to be on our team as a freshman. He does an amazing job and we haven’t really seen all that he can do. He’s still learning the event after he came off a real good high school career. We’re happy to have him here and we really look forward to the next three years."
