June 3, 2013
NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship Central
Complete List of Participants | Schedule of Events
Ticket Information | Hayward Field
PHILADELPHIA - Graduate student Kevin McDonnell will represent Saint Joseph's men's track in the 10,000m at the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. Hosted by the University of Oregon, the meet will take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. from June 5-8. McDonnell will compete this Thursday, June 6 at 7:15 p.m. PT (10:15 p.m. ET), and his race will be covered by ESPN3.
"I'm looking at it as another meet," said McDonnell of his first NCAA Championship opportunity. "I'm just trying to be really calm. Over the course of the last 10 days, I've been trying hard not to think about it...You can kind of psych yourself out if you think about it too much."
McDonnell qualified for his first NCAA Championship and SJU men's track's first NCAA Championship in 27 years with a sixth-place finish (29:59.82) at the East Region Preliminary Round in Greensboro, N.C. on May 23. He entered the meet ranked 10th on the East Region's declared list with a Saint Joseph's 10,000m-record time of 29:16.01, set at Bucknell's Bison Outdoor Classic back on May 13, and was one of 12 runners out of 48 total competitors from the East Region to qualify for the NCAA Championships. For a complete recap of McDonnell's sixth-place finish, please click here.
"It was awesome," said McDonnell of qualifying with his sixth-place finish. "It was great. As soon as I crossed the line, I was preparing for the Championships."
McDonnell currently ranks 21st in the entire NCAA in his event, sitting just under 17 seconds away from the top ten. He becomes the first male runner in either indoor or outdoor track to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships since Steve Ave qualified in both indoor (1000m) and outdoor (1500m) in 1986.
"If the race is tactical, I'm fine with that this week," said McDonnell. "I would like to PR again, but if it goes out tactical, I would just like to be in the position to be an All-American. I just have to get in my rhythm early. In a PR sense, I have to look to run 69s and 70s and just click them off. I just need to find my rhythm within the first couple of laps, run within myself, and then hopefully knock it down those last couple of laps."
SJU All-Time NCAA Qualifiers
Year Name Event Place
2013 Kevin McDonnell 10,000m Still To Come
1986 Steve Ave 1500m 10th
1985 Jim Norris 1500m ---
1981 Lou Kelly 400Y Int. Hurdles ---
1980 Lou Kelly 400Y Int. Hurdles ---
1976 Ed Lennex Triple Jump 3rd
1974 Ed Lennex Triple Jump ---
1973 Ed Lennex Triple Jump ---
1970 Fred Maglione High Jump ---
1961 Kevin Quinn Mile ---
1961 Jim Tozar 880Y ---
1961 John Lieb 440Y ---
1956 Frank McLaughlin 880Y 6th
1952 Joe McLaughlin Shot Put 6th
