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June 12, 2003
Virginia’s Kiamesha Otey advanced to the finals of the NCAA long jump championship and teammate Dawn Cleary also moved on to the finals of the steeplechase as the Cavaliers competed in the first day of the 2003 NCAA Track and Field Championships held on the campus of California State University in Sacramento, California. Both ladies will compete in their respective finals on Friday, June 13.
Otey jumped 6.28m (20′ 7.25″) and had the ninth-longest jump in the preliminary round. She is the reigning USA champion in the indoor long jump and earned All-American honors in the long jump in 2002. She won the long jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships and finished second in the 200m dash at both the indoor and outdoor meet. She will also compete tomorrow, Thursday, June 12 in the preliminaries of the 200m dash starting at 10:15 am PT. The long jump finals are slated to begin at 6:55 PT.
Dawn Cleary ran 10:12.99 and automatically qualified by finishing in the top five of her heat in the preliminary round. She has the ninth-fastest qualifying time and is one of 14 athletes to advance to the final. The school record holder in the event with a 10:03.13, Cleary ranked ninth nationally in the steeplechase last year and finished 10th in 2002 at the US National meet. She won the ACC title in 2003. The finals are scheduled to begin at 7:15 P on Friday.
Virginia’s Eliese Mitchell opens up competition Thursday, June 12 in the shot put.