Women's Track and Field | May 22, 2019

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Anthony Hawthorne, Grace Mancini and Dennis Manyeah of the La Salle University track and field program will begin their quests for the NCAA Championships as they compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships Thursday-Saturday.
 
"This is the part of the year that these three have trained for all year, and really it has been a tenant of the program the last five years," said head coach Tom Peterson. "We work all year to race our best in the last four weeks of the season. Each of them is in a slightly different place coming in to this meet."
 
ANTHONY HAWTHORNE OUTLOOK

• Junior Anthony Hawthorne competes at NCAA regionals for the second straight year in the 800-meter run.
• This outdoor season, he defended his 800 title at the A-10 Championships and ran the event in 1:49.46 at the Florida Relays.

PETERSON ON HAWTHORNE
"Anthony returns this year with the knowledge that he has navigated through this meet before. That is a huge advantage. He got his qualifying time a lot earlier than he did last year, so he has had the opportunity to train hard for several weeks now. He has been looking better everyday the last three weeks, and if there is one thing Anthony has proven over and over is that he is a championship racer. He needs competition to draw out his best. He will get that in spades this week."
 
ANTHONY'S ROAD AHEAD

• The first round of the men's 800-meter championships are set for Thursday at 8:35 p.m.
• Hawthorne will race in the first of six heats.
• 24 of the 48 runners will advance to the regional finals (national quarterfinals) – the top three finishers in each of the six heats as well as the next six fastest times.
• If he advances, Hawthorne will run the 800 again on Friday at 6:45 p.m., where 12 will move on to the National Championships – the top three finishers of the three heats as well as the next three fastest times.

GRACE MANCINI OUTLOOK

• Junior Grace Mancini will also be making her second consecutive appearance at NCAA regionals in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
• This outdoor season, she won the 5,000-meter title and took silver in the steeplechase at the A-10 Championships, while she ran a school record time of 10:07.47 in the steeplechase at the Penn Relays.

PETERSON ON MANCINI
"Grace is in a very good position in the steeplechase to advance to the finals. She made a big splash at Penn Relays, lowering her school record by nearly 12 seconds. But I think that her success in the 5k this year is a real indication of how strong she is right now. Her ceiling in the steeplechase is higher than 10:07. We will see that this week."
 
GRACE'S ROAD AHEAD

• The national quarterfinals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase will take place Friday at 8:20 p.m.
• Mancini will race in the second of three heats.
• 12 of the 48 runners will advance to the National Championships – the top three finishers in each of the three heats as well as the next three best times.

DENNIS MANYEAH OUTLOOK

• Sophomore Dennis Manyeah will make his NCAA debut this weekend in the high jump.
• This outdoor season, he won the A-10 high jump title with a conference and school record leap of 2.14 meters (7'0.25"), while also notably winning the event at the George Mason Spring Invitational. 

PETERSON ON MANYEAH
"Dennis is coming off an incredible conference championship. He made such a large improvement there, it is difficult to comprehend. This will be his first NCAA Championship, and it will be a challenge for him to manage those nerves. However, he has been great all year at jumping his best when it matters most. This will be a great opportunity for him to show that again."
 
DENNIS' ROAD AHEAD

• The first round of the men's high jump will begin on Saturday at 4 p.m.
• Manyeah will compete among the second of two flights.
• 12 of the 48 jumpers will move on to the National Championships.

The NCAA National Championships are June 5-8 in Austin, Texas.