SEMO FROSH QUALIFY FOR JUNIOR NATIONALS

Southeast Missouri State University freshmen Tammy Wenkel and Shauna Birge have qualified to compete in the USA Track & Field Junior National Championships this weekend at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Wenkel will compete in the 400-meter hurdles while Birge will be in the 100-meters. The top two in each event will qualify for the USA Junior National Team that will compete at the Pan American Junior Championships July 18-19 in Havana, Cuba.

Wenkel has a personal best time of 60.87 seconds in the hurdles, which is well under the national qualifying standard of 63.41. She will run the preliminaries at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, with the finals scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Sunday.

Birge has timed 11.81 in the 100-meters. She will run preliminaries at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, with the finals scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Saturday.

"It's a great accomplishment for both Tammy and Shauna to qualify for the junior national championships and it will be a great experience for them," said Southeast coach Joey Haines. "The experience of competing against the nation's top individuals in the junior age group will certainly benefit both young women. If either qualifies for the team that will go to Cuba it would mean experience against some of the top competitors in the world."