May 25, 2010

Three will represent Rio at NAIA Track Nationals

Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande will be represented by two males and one female at the NAIA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, May 27-29. The championships will be held at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.

"Cassie, with being a 400 hurdler, she's got to race every day to be in the finals," Rio Grande assistant Coach Matt Boyles said. "I think she has a really, really good shot of making it out of the pre-lims, whether she can get out of the semifinals into the finals, we don't know. That would be great if she could because that means she would score points if she makes it to the finals and would have a real good shot at being All-American."

"Let's hope that she can pull it off," Boyles added. "She should get out of the pre-lims o.k., it's the semifinals and how much you've got coming back (that's the concern), but she's a competitor and she's fiery and I wouldn't put anything past her." 

Mattia is currently ranked No. 15 in the nation in the event out of 27 competitors. She qualified for the national meet at the Mid-South Conference Championships, April 24 with a time of 1:03.74

It is has been an outstanding year for Mattia. She qualified in both the 600-meter and 800-meter runs at the NAIA Indoor Meet but only competed in the 600, where she finished 24^th. 

A student/athlete must finish in the top six positions to earn All-American status while scoring encompasses the top eight finishers in each event.