Green Wave Sends Three to NCAA Track Championships
May 29, 2002 | Track & Field
May 29, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. - Tulane University will have three individuals in action at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week at LSU's Bernie Moore Stadium.
Senior Solomon Kandie (Nairobi, Kenya), a two-time All-American, will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kandie earned a third-place finish at the 2000 Outdoor Championships in the steeplechase. The senior is an automatic qualifier this year after posting a time of 8:42.92 at the Stanford Relays on March 30. His time is the 10th best in the nation this year.
Kandie will run in the preliminary heat tonight (Wednesday) at 8:15 p.m. If he qualifies for the finals, he will run again at 8:45 p.m. on Friday.
Senior Clement Abai (Port Moresby, New Guinea) runs in the preliminary heats of the 800-meter run tonight (Wednesday) at 7:30 p.m. The finals will be contested at 8 p.m. on Friday.
Abai broke a 34-year old Tulane record in the 800 with a time of 1:48.29 at LSU on April 20. The old Tulane record was 1:48.34, set by Richard Rogers in 1968. Abai's time is the 17th best time in the country in 2002.
In addition to Kandie and Abai, freshman Helmi Leppanen (Kerava, Finland) will compete in the women's javelin throw. Leppanen set a school and Conference USA Championship record on May 10 by throwing the javelin 165 feet, seven inches in Louisville. Her distance was a provisional qualifying distance and the 16th best throw in the nation this year.
Leppanen will compete for the national title on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Further information about the tournament is available at www.ncaachampionships.com. Single-day and full-weekend tickets are available by calling (225) 578-2184 or 1-800-960-8587.
Full results will be available by visiting www.ncaachampionships.com. Tulane results will be available at www.TulaneGreenWave.com at the end of each day.
Players Mentioned
