Las Vegas, New Mexico - A pair of New Mexico Highlands student- athletes are at Pittsburg State University this weekend for the NCAA Division II National Indoor Track And Field Championships.
"It's always our goal to have RMAC champions and qualify athletes to nationals and we've been fortunate to accomplish this again this year and we have two outstanding qualifiers in
Ashley Barrett and
Patreece Clarke, said Head Coach
Bob DeVries.
Sophomore
Patreece Clarke returns to the national championships again this year and will represent NMHU in the 60m hurdles.
"Patreece has an excellent shot at a second NCAA Indoor All-American. She drew a very good heat in the prelims and has nationals experience to fall back on. She's looked extremely sharp in recent workouts," said DeVries. "
Freshman
Ashley Barrett will compete in the 60m dash. She won the RMAC championship two weekends ago in a time of 7.38.
"Both are in the shortest races of the meet, but a lot happens in those 60 meters. Ashley comes in ranked tied for #8 in the country and only eight make the final, but her qualifying mark is just a tenth-of-a-second off the fourth place time-- less than the blink of an eye. She's one of three freshmen to make the field of 20. Both are in the shortest races of the meet, but a lot happens in those 60 meters. For Ashley, it's a great reaction time, pushing through the drive phase and maintaining top speed through the line. I like to say, 'push, push, push...go, go, go'. Patreece has to come up a little quicker to clear that first hurdle. Then it's running clean, not clipping hurdles and maintaining rhythm and speed between them. It's all over in 7 or 8 seconds, but a there's a lot that goes into racing well." commented Coach DeVries.
"I'm very excited and pleased with the work both athletes have done with coach Russell and coach Hemmings to sharpen up since RMAC. Now it's race well, get to the final and anything can happen," said DeVries.
Complete coverage can be found on the
Championship Webpage.
