For Immediate Release: Friday, May 30, 2003
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director

KEATING QUALIFIES AT NCAA MIDWEST REGIONALS

LINCOLN, NE-Sophomore Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/PSJA North HS/Texas) of The University of Texas-Pan American's track and field team qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships by finishing second at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships at the University of Nebraska's Ed Weir Track Stadium Friday.

Keating finished second at 5000 meters in 14:13.80, just 4.1 seconds behind the winner, Ed Torres of Colorado. "Westly ran a very good time, especially considering the fact that it was very windy," said UTPA Head Coach Ricky Vaughn. "He beat several All-Americans and a lot of quality people, and he was coming off a week in which he couldn't practice as much as he would have liked to because his quad was hurting. He ran a great race."

The other four Texas-Pan American entrants did not qualify for nationals Friday. Junior Rashaad Ben (Austin, TX/Lanier HS) finished fifth in his heat and 15th overall in the 110 meter hurdles in 14.24 seconds, sophomore Deneb DeLuna (Mission, TX/Sharyland HS) was 19th in the shot put at 42 feet, two inches, senior Robert Lopez (Mission, TX/Mission HS/Texas-El Paso) was 19th in the hammer throw at 166 feet, nine inches, and sophomore Marlin Manley (Hampton, VA/Bethel HS) did not record a height in the high jump.

The Broncs stand eighth in the team standings after the first day of action, with eight points. "I'm glad to see us in eighth place," said Vaughn. "Overall, we did OK, and this was a good experience. I would have liked to see us do a little better, but it's a matter of getting more experience in big meets like this one. Deneb fouled on a throw of about 47 feet that could have put her in the finals, and Rashaad hit the ninth hurdle really hard and lost his balance. He was on track to come in under 14 minutes, which would have put him into the finals. Deneb, Robert and Rashaad all beat some pretty good people. Getting experience in a meet like this will only help us for next year."

Keating has now qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at both 5000 and 10,000 meters. Sophomore Jeff Martzall (Fort Wayne, IN/Northrop HS) will attempt to qualify in the pole vault Saturday.

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