University of Massachusets Athletics
Crawford and Cowan Earn Spots in NCAA Preliminary Championships
May 19, 2016 | Women's Track & Field
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts women’s track and field redshirt junior Kelsey Crawford and freshman Emilie Cowan have both earned spots in the NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor East Preliminary Championships, the NCAA announced on Thursday afternoon. The two Minutewomen will be in action next week, May 26-28, in Jacksonville, Fla., at the University of North Florida, with Crawford competing in javelin and Crawford running in the 400m.
Crawford’s throw of 152 feet, 4 inches at the New England Championships earned her a bronze medal in javelin and a spot in the NCAA East Preliminary Championships. First round of javelin competition begins at noon on Thurs., May 26.
The Houston, Texas, native has qualified for the meet for the first time in her career, capping off an outstanding 2015-16 campaign that saw her win a New England title in shot put indoors and capture a silver medal in the event at the Atlantic 10 Championships, helping UMass take home the A-10 indoor crown. During the outdoor season, Crawford collected silver medals in shot put and javelin at the A-10 Championships and went on to claim a gold medal in shot put at the New England meet, in addition to her bronze in javelin.
Cowan has reached the NCAA East Preliminary Championships after running her season-best time of 53.92 seconds in the 400m to silver at the New England Championships, breaking her own school record in the event. The first round of the 400m will take place at 7:20 p.m. on Thurs., May 26.
The Maplewood, N.J., native also helped the Minutewomen post their fifth straight 4x800m outdoor title at New England’s this spring and took home a silver medal in the 400m at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships.
In her first collegiate indoor track season, Cowan re-wrote the UMass record book, setting all-time program marks in the 200m, 400m, 500m, three of the top-five all-time marks in the 4x400m relay and the second-fastest time in school history in the 800m. At the indoor Atlantic 10 Championships, she earned the nod as the women's Most Outstanding Rookie Performer for her two gold medals and one bronze, taking home the 200m title and also winning the 500m, setting an Atlantic 10 record with a time of 1 minute, 12.95 seconds. Cowan ran the anchor leg of the bronze medal-winning 4x400m relay that sealed the championship, running 3 minutes, 52.14 seconds, in the final event of the meet.
