NDSU Women Prepared for NCAA West Preliminary Round

FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State women's track and field team will send six individuals and one relay to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas May 24-26. Antoinette Goodman will compete in both the long jump and the 200 meters, while Brittany Schanandore and Ashlynn Simon will run the 800 meters. Maddie McClellan and Amy Jo Thorne will compete in the steeplechase and Paige Stratioti will run the 400 meters. The 4x400 relay will also compete. The competition will be held at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas. In both the East and West regions, the top 48 athletes in each event made the preliminary round and the top 12 will advance to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa June 6-9.

NDSU competitors
This will be the second straight NCAA appeance for Antoinette Goodman. She competed in the first round of the 100 meters and 200 meters last year, finishing 30th in the 200 and 36th in the 100. Brittany Schanandore will also be making her second West Preliminary appearance. She redshirted last year, but advanced to the 800 meter quarterfinals in 2010, where she finished 23rd. This will be the first appearance for Summit League champions Maddie McClellan and Paige Stratioti. Ashlynn Simon and Amy Jo Thorne will also be competing in their first NCAA meet.

NDSU Competition Schedule
Thursday, May 24
5:30 p.m. - Long jump - Antoinette Goodman
7:45 p.m. - 400 meters first round - Paige Stratioti
8:35 p.m. - 800 meters first round - Brittany Schanandore, Ashlynn Simon

Friday, May 25
6:15 p.m. - 400 meters quarterfinals - Stratioti if qualifies
7:15 p.m. - 800 meters quarterfinals - Schanandore, Simon if qualify
8:25 p.m. - 200 meters first round - Goodman
9:30 p.m. - Steeplechase - Maddie McClellan, Amy Jo Thorne

Saturday, May 26
7:50 p.m. - 200 meters quarterfinals - Goodman if qualifies
9:45 p.m. - 4x400 relay quarterfinals

Ticket Information
All-meet tickets for the 2012 NCAA Division I Track and Field West Preliminary Round are now on sale. Adult tickets are $25 for all three days and youth tickets are $20. Single day tickets are also available. Tickets are required each day of competition. All seats are general admission. Tickets may be purchased online at TexasBoxOffice.com or by calling (512) 471-3333.

Live coverage
Live statistics of the NCAA West Preliminary Round will be available free of charge on GoBison.com.

Godfrey named coach of the year
Ryun Godfrey was named the Summit League Outdoor Coach of the Year in a vote of the league's head coaches. He picked up the award after leading the Bison women to their fifth consecutive league outdoor title. Godfrey has earned the honor all five seasons NDSU has been in the league.

NDSU women win fifth straight league title
The Bison women won an unprecedented fifth consecutive Summit League outdoor title on Saturday, May 12 at the Ellig Sports Complex. NDSU amassed 194 points, while second place South Dakota scored 164. Southern Utah was third with 114 points. Maddie McClellan set a new school, league and facility record of 10:19.39 en route to winning the steeplechase crown. Paige Stratioti was NDSU's only other individual champion, winning the 400 meters in 54.69. The 4x400 relay of Brittany Schanandore, Stratioti, Faith Kruchowski and Ashlynn Simon also claimed first in 3:42.92.