By Beth Renkoski

03/03/09

Nine VU Athletes to Compete at NAIA Indoor Nationals

Johnson City, Tenn (Memorial Center "Mini Dome" at East Tennessee State University) – The 44th Annual Men’s and 29th Annual Women’s NAIA Indoor Track And Field Championships get under way Thursday at Memorial Center "Mini Dome" in Johnson City, Tennessee for the ninth consecutive year.

Nine Vanguard University track and field athletes and two coaches leave Wednesday to compete at the 2009 Championships. Three men and six women will represent Vanguard nationally in the three-day event to be held March 5-7, 2009, at Mini Dome in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Vanguard’s first competition will begin on Thursday evening with the preliminary race for the Distance Medley Relay event featuring Megan Williams, Allie Armando, Ashley Rodriguez, and Chelsea Van Cott.

Juniors Aze Perkins (60m Hurdles), Morgan Rose (600m), Mike Hartanov (1000m), and Rebecca Sopp (5,000m), begin their NAIA competition on Friday, while Williams (Mile) and Rodriguez (600m) continue competition with their individual events. Friday will be VU’s heaviest day of competition at the prestigious event.

Finally, day three includes the final races for several previously mentioned events as well as VU’s Kelsie Davis’ NAIA debut in the High Jump.

All nine VU athletes met or beat their respective qualifying marks and will have the chance to compete for All-American honors.

Vanguard’s schedule of events is listed below. See the NAIA website for a full event schedule and more immediate results.

Megan Williams	Allison Armando		Ashley Rodriguez
Chelsea Van Cott	Rebecca Sopp		Kelsie Davis

Thursday: March 5, 2009
6:45pm Women's DMR Semi (Megan Williams, Allie Armando, Ashley Rodriguez, Chelsea Van Cott)

Friday: March 6, 2009
1:20pm Men's 60m Hurdles Prelim (Aze Perkins)
2:05pm Women's Mile Semi (Megan Williams)
2:40pm Men's 60m Hurdles Semi (Aze Perkins)
3:25pm Women's 600m Semi (Ashley Rodriguez)
3:40pm Men's 600m Semi (Morgan Rose)
5:00pm Men's 1,000m Semi (Michael Hartanov)
6:40pm Women's 5,000m Semi (Rebecca Sopp)

Saturday: March 7, 2009
12:25pm Women's Mile Final (Megan Williams)
12:50pm Men's 60m Hurdles Final (Aze Perkins)
1:05pm Women's 600m Final (Ashley Rodriguez)
1:10pm Men's 600m Final (Morgan Rose)
1:30pm Women’s High Jump (Kelsie Davis)
1:55pm Men's 1,000m Final (Michael Hartanov)
2:45pm Women's 5,000 Final (Rebecca Sopp)
3:30pm Women's DMR Final (Megan Williams, Allie Armando, Ashley Rodriguez, Chelsea Van Cott)