NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans high jumper
Brandon Knight and javelin thrower
Matti Mortimore were formally announced as qualifiers for the NCAA East Regional Championships on Thursday.
The NCAA East Regionals will take place at North Carolina A&T starting on Thursday, May 23 and continuing through Saturday, May 25.
Knight and Mortimore's selection to the postseason make the duo the first student-athletes from UNO to compete in an NCAA Division I postseason event since golfers Ken Looper and Oscar Zetterwall competed in a regional in College Station, Texas in 2010.
To earn a spot in the NCAA Regionals, Knight and Mortimore were required to rank amongst the top 48 amongst schools east of the Mississippi River.
A former UNO men's basketball player, Knight posted a result of 6-10.75 at the Southeastern Louisiana Invitational to bolster his spot amongst the regional and national rankings. The mark ranks No. 36 in the East Region and is tied for No 83 nationally.
In addition, Knight's best performance would rank tied for first in the Southland Conference with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's Roger De La Cruz while placing second amongst competitors from the state of Louisiana.
In the javelin, Mortimore is currently placed No. 9 in the East Region and No. 19 nationally based upon his school-record mark of 231-10 on Apr. 13 at the McNeese SpringTime Classic.
A native of Ipswich, Suffolk, England, Mortimore won five of the six outdoor competitions for which he competed with the lone exception coming at the Texas Relays. He initially became the school-record holder with a throw of 227-11 at the Louisiana Classics, breaking the 22-year old Privateer school mark of 215-3 established by Jeff Huth in 1991.
Mortimore is the top javelin thrower in the state of Louisiana and a candidate for Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) Freshman of the Year honors. Amongst future Southland rivals, Mortimore would rank No. 1 ahead of Southeastern Louisiana's Derek Hampton (225-3).
Mortimore will compete in the javelin competition on Friday, May 24 at 1 p.m. CT while Knight is slated to begin the high jump on Saturday, May 25 at 6 p.m. CT. The top 12 competitors in each event advance to the NCAA National Track & Field championships to be held June 5-8 in Eugene, Ore.
More information and a preview of the competition will be made available next week.
