Akron Zip NCAA track & field All-Americans Christi Smith
(Columbus/Bexley) and LeShaunte Edwards (Cleveland/Rhodes) leave
July 12 for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
Smith and Edwards will be accompanied by UA head track & field coach
Dennis Mitchell, assistant coach P.J. Wright and athletic trainer Rich
Eroshevich.
Both Zip athletes will compete on Friday. Smith, the 2000 NCAA
Champion in the heptathlon, will compete for the first time in the
100-meter hurdles at 3 o'clock PT. She also has the high jump (3:45),
shot put (6:15) and 200-meters (8:30) on the first day. Edwards, who
placed seventh in the 200-meter dash at the NCAA Championships last
June, will run the first round of the 100-meter dash at 6 o'clock.
Smith, a 5,932-point heptathlon scorer in April at the Texas Relays,
will compete on Saturday in the long jump (3:00), javelin (4:30) and
800-meters (7:05). If Edwards advances through the first round, then
he'll run in the semifinals at 4 o'clock. The MAC men's outdoor MVP
will run again on Saturday, July 22, in the first round of the 200
meters.
Both Akron athletes are vying to make the United States Olympic Track &
Field Team which will compete in Sydney, Australia in September.