Three members of the Penn men's track and field team will represent their university today on the nation's largest scale track and field competition.
Brian Chaput, Neal Wojdowski and Courtney Jaworski will participate in the qualifying rounds of their respective events as the 2004 NCAA Championships kicked off yesterday at the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.
Emily Logan, the lone representative from the Penn women's track and field team, ran in the preliminary round of the 5,000-meter event late last night.
For Logan and Chaput, who are both veterans of the NCAAs, performing in the national spotlight is nothing new.
Chaput, the defending NCAA champion in the javelin, will look to defend his title as the No. 2 seed in the nation.
The East Haven, Conn. Native posted his highest toss of 77.67 meters this season, and has already clinched championship titles at the NCAA East Regionals, Heptagonal Championships and the Penn Relays earlier this year.
Tennessee's Lehigh Smith is the only player ranked ahead of Chaput at this year's NCAAs.
The All-American champion will look to improve upon his 258 feet, 2 inch throw at last year's NCAA Championships. But it won't be his last time competing in the championships.
Chaput is already planning to compete in the trials for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
For Logan, her second and last trip to the NCAA Championships will be a chance to finish among the best in the nation at her event.
Logan earned the 16th fastest time in the country in the 5,000-meter run. He placed fifth at East Regionals with a time of 16:24.53.
The East Walpole, Mass., native will look to crack the top ten this time around after finishing in 14th place in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
For Wojdowski and Jaworski, the NCAA Championships mark the first time they will compete in their events against the nation's best.
Wojdowski earned the final spot in the men's pole vault after placing fourth at the NCAA East Regionals two weeks ago. The senior clinched first place in the competition at both the IC4A Championships and Heptagonals earlier this season.
"We know Neal will have a lot of competition, but I'm sure he will get through his performances pretty well," Cook said.
Jaworski will compete today in the 800-meter race after an amazing performance just a week ago, when he toke second in the event at East Regionals.
Jaworski is one of only 14 student athletes running in the event with a time under 1:47.
"Courtney had a great run last week,"Cook said. "He has a great chance to earn a great finish at NCAAs."
Should they qualify, the Quaker runners will have a day off before returning to action on for the championship races on saturday.
