Butler Sends Nine To NCAA Track Preliminary Round

Butler will send a league-high nine athletes to Greensboro, N.C., to compete in the East Preliminary Round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship.  The meet, hosted by North Carolina A & T, will be held at Aggie Stadium, Thursday through Saturday, May 27-29.

Representing Butler in the preliminary round meet will be seniors Stephen Lisgo, Kris Gauson, Joe Macdonald, Rob Mullett and Justin Roeder, junior Madison Roeder and freshmen Lauren McKillop, Kirsty Legg and Katie Clark.  Butler topped the Horizon League with nine individual qualified, while league champ Milwaukee had four qualifiers.  Youngstown State and Detroit each had two qualifiers, while Wright State and Loyola each had one.

Gauson will be the first Butler runner to see action in North Carolina, competing in the first round of the men’s 1500 meter run at 4:30 p.m. (ET) on Thursday.  He enters the race ranked sixth after declarations.  Legg will be in the first round of the women’s 1500 meter run, immediately following the men’s race.  Brothers Justin and Madison Roeder will close out Butler’s first day of competition in the men’s 10,000 meter run semifinals at 8:30 p.m.

Lisgo, a returning All-American, and Mullett will compete in the men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase quarterfinals on Friday at 8:30 p.m.  Lisgo, who placed third in the steeplechase at the NCAA national meet a year ago, enters the race ranked fourth, while Mullett is ranked eighth.

The men’s 1500 meter run quarterfinals will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the women’s 1500 meter run quarterfinals.  Butler’s final competitors will see action later that evening in the 5,000 meter events.  Macdonald will compete in the men’s 5,000 meter run at 8:05 p.m., while McKillop and Clark will be in the women’s 5,000 meter run at 8:45 p.m.

The top 12 competitors per event in each of the two NCAA Preliminary Round meets will advance to the 2010 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship at the University of Oregon, June 9-12.  Lisgo, Macdonald and Gauson each advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship a year ago.