Thursday, March 02, 2006

Chapel Hill, N.C. (March 1, 2006) - Senior James Rainer (Alcoa, Tenn.) ran a 6.77 in the 60 meter dash finals at the UNC Last Chance Meet, winning the title by .12 seconds over his closest competitor, but coming up short of matching his season-best NCAA Provisional qualifying time of 6.72.

It is his fifth 60 meter dash title of the season, bringing his season total to seven.

Rainer posted the best preliminary time in qualifying for the finals as well, running a 6.86.  He was four-hundredths of a second ahead of the second-best time posted by eventual second-place finisher Trenton Guyjr.

Rainer will now wait until declarations are announced on Monday, March 6 to see if he receives a bid to the NCAA Indoor Nationals in Fayetteville, Ark.

Junior Anna Marie Ricciardi (Canfield, Ohio) competed in the high jump, again vying for an NCAA Provisional qualifying mark, but came up short with a second place finish.  Ricciardi jumped 1.63 meters (5-4.25), short of the qualifying mark of 1.78 meters (5-10), finishing second behind N.C. State's Jennifer Webster who jumped 1.68 meters (5-6).

The Bucs next turn their attention to the outdoor season, opening up Saturday, March 4 at the Central Florida Invitational in Orlando, Fla.