JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University freshman
BRIAN BUCKNOR (Irvington, NJ/St. Benedict's Prep) will compete for the 2009 NCAA Division III national championship in the 400-meter dash.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) released its final performance list for the 2009 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship, which will be contested on May 21-23 at Marietta College's Don Drumm Stadium in Marietta, Ohio.
In a season in which NJCU track athletes have been riddled with injuries, Bucknor is the lone representative of the Gothic Knight men's and women's outdoor track and field program to qualify for the NCAAs. By qualifying in the 400-meter dash, Bucknor extends the streak of consecutive seasons that NJCU has sent at least one athlete to the NCAA Outdoor Championship meet to 10 years, dating to the 2000 season.
Bucknor has twice exceeded the NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 400 this season, including a mark of 48.16 seconds at the 2009 ECAC Championship on May 15. He currently holds the ninth fastest time in the event this season in Division III.
Bucknor will compete in a field of 17 national qualifiers in the trials of the event on Friday, May 22 at 3:40 p.m. If he records one of the top eight times in the preliminary round, he will advance to the national final in the event on Saturday, May 23 at 2:10 p.m.
Bucknor is seeking to become the second NJCU men's athlete to earn All-America honors in the outdoor 400 meters. In 2005, former athlete Anthony Campbell was fourth at the NCAA championship meet in the event.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
