June 3, 2003

ARLINGTON, Texas...Three more Texas-Arlington track and field athletes had their tickets punched to Nationals as the NCAA announced its at-large bids Monday evening. Senior Rukaiya Holland and sophomores Clement Taylor and Paul Whitty all received at-large berths. The three will join Kajsa Haglund, who automatically qualified in the 1500 meters at last week's NCAA Midwest Regional meet in Lincoln, Neb.

Holland, a senior sprinter from Houston, qualified in the 100 meters with a time of 11.48. Her fastest time came in the finals at the SLC Championships in which she finished second behind Southwest Texas' LaJuana Lovett, who also qualified for Nationals. Holland just narrowly missed automatically qualifying as she finished sixth as last week's regional meet, just five-hundreths of a second out of fifth.

Taylor, a sophomore sprinter from Nassau, Bahamas, heads to Nationals after posting a season best 10.27 in the 100 meters. His time ranks as the 12th fastest time in the nation this season, and the fourth fastest time of athletes who did not automatically qualify at regionals. Taylor's fastest time came at the UTA Open where he finished second, but was the top collegiate finisher at the event.

Whitty, a sophomore hurdler from London, Ontario, Canada, heads to Nationals after running a 13.73 in the 110 meter hurdles. Whitty's time ranks as the 18th fastest time in the nation this season, and the fifth fastest of the non automatic qualifiers. Whitty ran his fastest time of the season in the finals of the SLC Championships, as he was narrowly beaten out for first by two-hundreths of a second.

Haglund, a junior middle distance runner from Bastad, Sweden, was the lone automatic qualifier last week as she finished second in the 1500 meters in a UTA and SLC record time of 4:18.30. Her time ranks as the 12th fastest time heading into Nationals.

The 2003 NCAA Track and Field National Championships will take place in Sacramento, California beginning on Wednesday, June 11 and run through Saturday, June 14.