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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Three Virginia Tech track & field student-athletes, freshmen George Carter, Thomas Curtin, and Sarah Rapp, will compete this weekend at the 2012 USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
The meet (for athletes ages 19 and under) serves as a qualifier for this year’s IAAF World Junior Track & Field Championships as top performers will have the opportunity to be part of the American team that will compete in Barcelona, Spain from July 10th to July 15th.
Carter will run in the first round of the 1500 meters on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT. The final is set for Sunday at 3:45 p.m. This outdoor season, Carter posted a best time of 3:52.62 in the 1500 meters at the Roanoke Twilight Meet. He redshirted both the cross country and indoor track & field season, while competing unattached.
Curtin will compete in the 10000 meters on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Curtin had an outstanding freshman year for Tech as he was named the team’s Rookie of the Year in both cross country and track. He competed at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in the 5000 meters during the outdoor season and placed sixth in the 5k at the ACC Outdoor Championship. Curtin also won the 5k at NC State’s Wolfpack Last Chance Meet with a season best time of 14:02.86. Indoors, Curtin was ninth at the ACC Championship in the 5000 meters in a team best 14:31.19. He ran third on the team and 30th overall the ACC Cross Country Meet (24:20.3 for 8k) and was 54th at the NCAA Southeast Regional Meet in the 10k (31:33.7). Curtin also competed for the USA junior cross country team at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge in Edinburgh, Scotland in January and finished eighth overall for the 6k in 20:21.
Rapp will participate in the 5000 meters on Saturday at 8 p.m. During the outdoor season, Rapp competed in the 5000 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary Meet and won the 5k at NC State’s Wolfpack Last Chance in a season best 16:37.76. She also finished eighth in the 5000 meters at the ACC Championship. Indoors, Rapp was 13th in the 5k at the ACC Meet and turned in a season best 3k time of 9:43.05 at the SPIRE Division I Collegiate Invitational. She was named the team’s Rookie of the Year in cross country after leading the team in two meets and finishing 41st at the ACC Championship.
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