M. Track sends three to NCAAs

Three members of the Penn men's track team know a little something about close calls.

Junior Tuan Wreh, sophomore Sam Burley and freshman Adam Chubb all managed to barely edge their way into the field of 388 athletes that will compete at the NCAA Championships.

The four-day national meet began yesterday and will run until Saturday at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.

Wreh will represent the Quakers in the triple jump. The native of Rockville, Md., is coming off a great performance at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships held two weekends ago, at which he took third place with a personal-best leap of 16.04 meters.

That distance puts him in a tie for the 13th-longest jump in the country heading into Nationals.

Wreh's former personal best -- a mark of 15.96 meters at the Princeton Invitational on May 12 -- would have been two one-hundredths of a meter short of the national qualifying distance.

Burley will race against the nation's best in the 800 meter run. His time of 1:48.16 in the 800 trials at IC4As put him 0.21 seconds ahead of the minimum qualifying time. He enters the meet as the No. 17 seed in a field of 20.

Chubb -- who also plays on the Penn men's basketball team -- will don the Red and Blue to compete in the high jump.

His leap of 2.20 meters -- which ended up being the minimum qualifying height -- at the Outdoor Heptagonal Championships on May 6 puts him in a four-way tie for 17th place.

Seven Ivy League athletes will compete at NCAAs. Penn's total of three national qualifiers is higher than any other Ancient Eight team.

Princeton will send senior Scott Denbo and junior Tora Harris to compete in the shot put and high jump, respectively.

Cornell junior Max King will participate in the 3000 meter steeplechase, and Harvard senior Chris Clever will represent the Crimson in the javelin throw.

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