McCarron, Sheets Set for NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships

Related Links:

2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships Web Page

Capital University seniors Emma McCarron and Emily Sheets will finish their respective careers at this weekend's NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The three-day event, which begins this Thursday and concludes Saturday, features the top 22 student-athletes in each individual event on the women's side. McCarron qualified for the 3,000-meter steeplechase with the nation's 16th-best time of 11:00.68, a mark posted last Thursday at North Central (Ill.). Sheets was the final accepted entry in the discus throw with Division III's No. 22 toss, a 139-08 toss recorded Friday at the Augustana (Ill.) Twilight.

The discus throw preliminaries and finals are scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. Central time on Thursday. The 3,000-meter steeplechase preliminaries are slated for 7:50 p.m. CST on Thursday. The top five from each 11-person heat, as well as the next four quickest times in either heat, will advance to Saturday's final race at 1:45 p.m. CST.

The top eight in each event will earn All-America honors. Thrower Emily Goerig and sprinter Kwesi Seabrook were the last Crusaders to earn All-America status, both placing in the top eight in their respective events at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

See below for previews on each student-athlete.

McCarron in Familiar Territory

McCarron, a Mansfield, Ohio, native, is a two-time NCAA Cross Country Championships qualifier. She expects the environment at the Track and Field Championships to be different.

"I think it's a lot more restrictive than cross country," McCarron said. "In cross country, you can kind of meander around. At track, if you don't have a credential, you can't go. So that throws off a lot of things, especially with the coaches, as to where they can and can't be and where I'm used to them going."

McCarron believes a time of 10:50 or better, her goal prior to the OAC Championships, will be right around the All-American cutoff in Saturday's finals. To get there, she said she'll need to have "the race of my life" to place in the top 14 Thursday to compete Saturday to reach her goal of becoming an All-American.

"I'll have to run my race on Thursday, and then make it more strategy on Saturday," she said.

A two-time indoor conference champion in the 1-mile and one-time indoor league champion in the 3,000-meter run, McCarron was selected the 2013 OAC Co-Distance Runner of the Year during the indoor season. She finished second in the steeplechase at the OAC Outdoor Championships to fellow NCAA qualifier Emily Mapes of John Carroll.

McCarron hopes to do what it takes to survive Thursday's preliminary and advance to Saturday's final, where she aims for a coveted top-eight finish and All-America accolade.

Whether she achieves her goal, McCarron is thrilled to be concluding her standout, four-year career on the biggest stage.

"I couldn't be happier," she said. "I've worked really hard. I'm finishing my 10th track and field season, so it's nice to actually qualify. It feels like more of an accomplishment because you're in the top 22, you're not just one of 200-plus like in cross country."

Sheets: "I wasn't trying to get my hopes up"

Sheets, a Gahanna, Ohio, native, found out she was 23rd in the nation after her school-record throw at Friday's Augustana Twilight. At best, she was cautiously optimistic about a competitor in front of her not declaring or withdrawing from the event due to injury.

The OAC's outdoor discus champion said she was in the shower Sunday morning when her phone rang, but she didn't check it until a little later on.

"I saw it, and I ran into my parents' room with a towel on my head and was like, 'I made it!'" Sheets said.

"I wasn't trying to get my hopes up … but I'm so excited about the opportunity to compete at nationals."

Sheets hopes for a throw of 140 feet or more this weekend. Her original goal at the beginning of the season was above 150.

"Before I knew I made it, I was thinking I just wanted to get there, and now that I've made it, I'm the 22nd spot, so really I have nothing to lose," Sheets said. "I'm just trying to go out there and beat somebody. It would be awesome if I could make finals. When you get to a big competition like that, anything can happen with people's nerves and different things like that."

Sheets has experienced a multitude of success over the last four years, both athletically and academically. She was the 2011 OAC Field Athlete of the Meet at the OAC Outdoor Championships after winning the high jump, and was All-OAC in the event at both conference meets this season.

In 2011, she was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic team and the CoSIDA Academic All-District second team. One year later, she earned Academic All-OAC accolades.