Florida Gators
Arkansas Last Chance Qualifier
Karsuma Earns NCAA Indoors Berth At Arkansas Last Chance Qualifier
Saturday, March 8, 2008 | Track and Field
Freshman Liene Karsuma (Riga, Latvia) leapt her way into the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday night, clearing an automatic-qualifying height of 1.85m/6-0.75 to win the women's high jump at the Arkansas Last Chance Qualifier at Randal Tyson Track Center.
In addition to securing a spot in the women's high jump field at the NCAA Championships, Karsuma tied Maria Galloni's 16-year old school record, and broke her own UF freshman standard, on her second attempt at the height after progressing up from 1.69m/5-6.50 without a miss. She is one of only two freshmen in the nation to achieve the automatic-qualifying height of 1.85m/6-0.75, while her effort increased the total number of overall competitors with automatic marks to seven. Karsuma is just the third woman in school history to clear a bar at 6-0 or higher, joining Galloni and Krystle Moss.
She is the third member of the 10th-ranked UF women's team to automatically qualify for the NCAA meet, joining senior Lakecia Ealey (Albany, Ga.) in the 60m and sophomore Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) in the shot put.
Junior Willie Perry (Lenoir, N.C.) also improved his NCAA Championships hopes on Friday night with a provisional-qualifying time of 21.05 in the men's 200m, finishing second of the nine competitors at the Arkansas Last Chance Qualifier. The mark, which was a season best for the three-time All-American, moved Perry into the 12th spot on the national descending order list. In 2007, 21 athletes were admitted to the NCAA Championships in the men's 200m, with the cutoff falling at 21.08, which Perry surpassed on Friday night.
Two more Gators will be looking to climb the descending order list on Saturday, as senior Shawneise Williams (Archer, Fla.) and junior Beau Burroughs (Tampa, Fla.) will compete in the women's weight throw and men's shot put, respectively, at the Virginia Tech Last Chance in Blacksburg, Va.
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