May 28, 2010

GREENSBORO, NC - Two of the three qualifying La Salle runners opened up competition late Thursday night at the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, NC.

Meghan Lutz qualified in the 10,000 meter run and finished 25th in the East with a time of 36:19.78. She was the second Atlantic 10 runner to finish, behind national qualifier Amanda Goetschius of Charlotte. Lutz had qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary meet with her season-best 35:40.87 at the Penn Relays, and was ranked 48th coming into this weekend. Lutz wrapped up a successful season which saw not only the regional qualification but a fourth place finish as a redshirt freshman at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championship.

Tyler Jones also qualified for the meet in the 10,000 meter run, but was one of 16 runners late Thursday night who did not finish the race. Jones also wrapped up his successful season as well. He earned the East Region qualification with a 30:02.48 at Stanford on March 26 and recently finished fifth at the IC4A Championships. He ran the 5K at the Atlantic 10 Championship, finishing eighth in the conference.

Still to compete in the East Region meet is Samantha Gallagher, who runs tonight at 9:10 PM. Gallagher looks to continue making her mark on the La Salle record books. After initially breaking the eight-year-old school steeplechase record at Stanford to kick off the outdoor season, she lowered the school mark once again in her fifth place finish at the ECAC Championship. Stay tuned to GoExplorers.com for results from tonight's race.