Ten Compete at USA Track & Field Championships

PROVO -- A total of 10 BYU athletes, including eight current members of the Cougars' track team, will compete June 19-22 at the U.S.A. Track & Field Championships in Stanford, Calif.

During the four-day competition, Team USA will be selected for the 2003 World Outdoor Championships in Paris in August. The top three finishers in each final who have achieved the "A", standard, as determined by the I.A.A.F., will represent the United States at the World Championships.

Sophomore Kassi Andersen, who last weekend won the NCAA Championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the third fastest time ever in the world, is listed as a pre-race favorite with a qualifying time of 9:48.57. Like the NCAA Championships, Andersen, a native of Provo, Utah, will be joined in the competition by All-American teammate Lisa Antonelli. A junior from Alpine, Utah, Antonelli finished 12th in the NCAA Championships, and was the eight-ranked American in the competition.

Junior Missy Wood, who owns a life-time best mark of 160.00 in the javelin and won the MWC championship earlier this season, will also compete for a spot on the U.S. National team.

Former Cougars Tiffany Lott-Hogan and Nikki Hughes will also compete at the national championships. Hogan, a 10-time BYU All-American, will compete in the heptathlon, while Hughes, a 2002 NCAA Outdoor All-American, will compete in the long jump.

In men's action, junior Greg Flint will compete in the 400-meter hurdles, while sophomore Matt Adams will contend for one of three spots in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Flint owns a personal-best time of 49.92 in the event. Despite beating his personal record at the NCAA Championships and finishing in the top three of his heat, the Kaysville, Utah, did not advance in the competition due to a technical infraction. Adams, however, earned All-America honors in the steeplechase at the NCAA championships, finishing as the eighth-ranked American in the contest.

Freshmen Dan Hinckley and Justin Palmer will compete in the junior division in the 5,000 meters and decathlon, respectively. While junior competitors are not eligible for the World Championships, they will be competing for an invitation to the Pan American Games later this summer.

Hinckley will enter the 5,000-meter contest with a qualifying mark of 14:24.38, recorded earlier this season at the Stanford Invitational. Palmer set a personal record in the decathlon with a score of 6,711 points earlier this season at the Texas Relays.

The meet will be broadcast live from 4-6 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, June 21, on NBC, and live from 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.