Coady, Stair Earn Invites to NCAA Championships

The College of Wooster's Hilary Coady has been officially invited to compete in both the heptathlon and 400-meter hurdles and Mark Stair in the high jump at the 2014 NCAA Div. III Track & Field Championships, which will take place May 22-24 on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, the NCAA announced on Sunday.

It marks the second consecutive year Wooster has multiple student-athletes competing at track nationals.

"That's an outstanding achievement for both of them to get in," commented Fighting Scot coach Dennis Rice. "To get to the national championships is the ultimate goal for any college athlete."

Coady, a sophomore, is seeded 18th in the 400 hurdles and 19th in the heptathlon. She ran a personal- and season-best time of 1:02.59 in the 400 hurdles on May 12 after earlier winning the event at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in 1:03.56. While she has been preparing for the heptathlon, Coady has not competed in one since scoring 4,451 points for second-place in the conference on April 26-27.

Stair, a freshman, cleared a height of 6 feet, 9 inches in the high jump on April 25, good for the No. 17 seed at the NCAA Championships. He went on to win the conference (6 feet, 6 inches), but has not jumped competitively since, resting a sore heel.

"(The goal is) for them to compete at the highest level, challenge the top people in the country, and see where they stack up against the best of the best," Rice said. "With both being underclassmen … this will certainly give them the ability to build off this experience for the future, too."

The heptathlon kicks off the NCAA's this Thursday at noon, with the 100-meter hurdles, followed by the high jump, shot put, and 200 meters. Coady will also compete in the prelims of the 400 hurdles Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

On Friday, the heptathlon starts back up at 1 p.m., with the long jump, javelin, and 800 meters, and Stair will take part in the high jump, beginning at 5:30 p.m.