TWO BULLDOGS HEADED TO NCAA-II OUTDOOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

Jared Kelsh & Kamitra Carroll To Compete In National Meet At Charlotte

NCAA Qualifiers

Juniors Jared Kelsh (top) and Kamitra Carroll (bottom) will represent the Bulldogs at the 2007 NCAA-II Outdoor Track and Field Championships

The Bulldog men will be represented by junior runner Jared Kelsh (Chippewa Lake/Chippewa Hills) in the 1,500 meters while junior thrower Kamitra Carroll (Flint/Carman-Ainsworth) of the women's squad will compete in both the hammer throw along with the shot put. The meet will be held at the Irwin Belk Complex on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte next Thurday to Saturday, May 24-26.

The final meet participants were announced by the NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee. A total of 620 student-athletes qualified for the meet by reaching the automatic or provisional standards established for each event. The top eight finishers in each event will earn All-America recognition.

Carroll will represent the Bulldogs in two events as she'll be involved in both the shot put and hammer throw competitions. In the hammer throw, Carroll's best toss (167-11) this year is 17th of the 18 student-athletes slated to compete Thursday (May 24) at 5:45 p.m. (EDT). Her seed mark (45-6.50) in the shot put is listed 19th overall of 21 throwers. The women's shot put will be held Friday (May 25) at 5:45 p.m. (EDT).

Kelsh owns the 10th-fastest seed time (3:50.35) in the 1,500 meters of the 18 runners selected to compete in Thursday's (May 24) preliminary round of the competition at 4:35 p.m. (EDT). The finals of the 1,500 meters are slated for Saturday (May 26) starting at 6 p.m. (EDT).

Carroll previously earned 2007 NCAA-II Indoor All-America kudos in both the weight throw and shot put following her performances at the national indoor meet (March 9-10) in Boston, Mass. She claimed national runner-up honors in the weight throw during the opening day of action (March 9) at the indoor meet with a best toss of 59-4 in the event. Carroll, who was FSU's lone participant this year in the NCAA-II Indoor Championships, then placed sixth overall in the shot put with a top toss of 46-5.50 on Saturday (March 10).

During the 2007 outdoor campaign, Carroll has currently placed among the top eight meet performers nine times. Most recently last Saturday (May 12), she won the shot put (43-10) at the North Central (Ill.) Dr. Keeler Invitational in Naperville, Ill. Carroll earned second place honors in the shot put (45-3.75) and finished fourth in the hammer throw (164-11) at the 2007 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Outdoor Championships held May 3-4 in Midland, Mich. She placed either first or second in an event six times this outdoor season.

Last year, Carroll took ninth place overall among 18 throwers in the women's shot put at the 2006 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 26-27) on Emporia State's (Kan.) Zola Witten Track inside Fran Welch Stadium at Emporia, Kan. Her best toss of 46-4.75 fell one spot short of earning All-America accolades. During the 2005-06 season, Carroll was named the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Women's Indoor Field Event Athlete Of The Year as announced by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

Kelsh will make his first appearance at a national meet after qualifying in the 1,500 meters. He placed third in both the 800 meters (1:54.18) and the 1,500 meters (3:52.79) at the 2007 GLIAC Outdoor Championships prior to posting a career-best time in the 1,500 meters (3:50.35) while placing fifth overall in a field of 71 runners during last Saturday's North Central (Ill.) Dr. Keeler Invitational. Kelsh also placed first in the 1,500 meters (4:02.94) at the outdoor season-opening St. Joseph's (Ind.) Invitational (3/31) and earned runner-up honors in the 800 meters (1:54.63) at the Northwood Invitational (4/21). Finally, he posted an impressive showing with a ninth-place effort in the 1,500 meters (3:53.39) and surpassed the national provisional qualifying standard at the prestigious University of Tennessee Sea Ray Relays (4/13-14) in a field of 43 runners. The event included participants from all levels of competition.

Kelsh will be only the second men's performer to represent Ferris at a national meet since the program was reinstated in 1999. Last year (2006), former Bulldog high jumper Joe Mielke became the first Bulldog men's track and field athlete to earn All-America accolades since 1993 with a fourth-place finish in the high jump (6-11) at the 2006 NCAA-II Indoor Track and Field Championships (March 10-11) in Boston. Former Bulldog runner Jenny Irwin captured fourth place in the 1,500 meters (4:38.11) for the Bulldog women at the 2006 NCAA-II Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 25-27) held in Emporia, Kan.

The Bulldog women's outdoor track and field team took fifth place while the men's squad was ninth overall at the 2007 GLIAC Outdoor Championships under 11th-year head coach Jeff Kavalunas.