Parks Qualifies For T&F National Meet

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Senior hurdler Josh Parks became the first UNCW track and field student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division I national meet in 17 years following a thrilling effort in Friday's quarterfinals of the NCAA East Preliminary Round at North Florida's Hodges Stadium.
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The fleet-footed Parks clocked a 13.83 time to finish 15^th overall in the 110m hurdles, but took third in his heat to automatic qualify for the national meet. The Kannapolis, N.C., product is scheduled to compete on Tuesday, June 9, 2023, at Mike A. Meyers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas.

Parks and 11 other competitors from the East Preliminary Round will be joined by 12 of their counterparts in the west at the finals in Austin. He is the first sprinter in UNCW history to reach the meet and the first member of the program to advance to the nationals since UNCW Athletics Hall of Famer and javelin thrower Anna Raynor achieved the feat in 2005-06.

Triple jumper Michael McDuffie (1996-97) was the last member of the men's team to compete in the NCAA meet.

"I want to give a huge congratulations to Josh and his family," said Jeff Klaves, UNCW's head coach. "This is a huge moment for him. We are so excited about seeing him in Austin, Texas, against the nation's best. He has continued to impress and emerge in so many ways.

"This was a moment of when, and not if. Josh represents the growth of our entire program. He's always been one of the hardest workers and has sparked a belief and feeling that it can be done.

"Josh had a tremendous start and there was a false start. His second start was good. He did a great job of competing through the line to secure the automatic qualifying spot. We knew he was going to have a shot. He willed himself to sprint over the line and earn the qualification.

"Experience truly is the best teacher. For Josh to come back a year removed, he was so locked in. We'll gear things up next week and go to Austin to represent Seahawk to the best of our ability."

In other action earlier in the day, sophomore Donovan Lara finished 28th in the high jump. Lara, from Seagrove, N.C., was making his second appearance in the NCAA East meet and ended up 28^th out of 48 competitors in the competition. Lara posted a mark of 6-8.25 after clearing 6-10.25 for 40^th place at last year's meet in Bloomington, Ind.

"Donovan put together some great attempts," Klaves said, "and had the ability to qualify today. He put together a new run this past month and we were confident coming into the meet that we could execute it. Now we need to continue to work on that run to help him hit the jump when on command at meets like this.

"We've seen so much growth in Donovan and look forward to seeing him in moments like this for years to come."

Six members of the UNCW track and field team – the most in 13 years – traveled to the Sunshine State for the NCAA meet.

2023 NCAA East Preliminary Round Results
Courtney Lines, 21^st place, Long Jump, 19-9.50
Nick Anderson, 38^thplace, 400 Meter Dash, 47.65
Ryan DeBarber, 38^th place, Javelin, 201-4
Miles Higgins, 40^th place, Javelin, 199-1
Josh Parks, 39^th, 400 Meter Hurdles, 53.45
Josh Parks, 15th place, 110 Meter Hurdles, 13.83 *NCAA national qualifier
Donovan Lara, 28th place, High Jump, 6-8.25

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Players Mentioned

Josh Parks: 6' 2"; Freshman; Sprints/Jumps

Nickolis Anderson: Sprints; 5' 11"; Junior; Sprints

Ryan DeBarber: Throws; 6' 0"; Sophomore; Throws

Donovan Lara: Jumps; 6' 0"; Sophomore; Jumps

Miles Higgins: Throws; 6' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Josh Parks
: 6' 2"; Freshman; Sprints/Jumps

Nickolis Anderson
: 5' 11"; Junior; Sprints
: Sprints

Ryan DeBarber
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Throws
: Throws

Donovan Lara
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; Jumps
: Jumps

Miles Higgins
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: Throws

UNC Wilmington Athletics

Scoreboard

Events/Results

Parks Qualifies For T&F National Meet

Players Mentioned

Josh Parks

Nickolis Anderson

Ryan DeBarber

Donovan Lara

Miles Higgins

Players Mentioned

Josh Parks

Nickolis Anderson

Ryan DeBarber

Donovan Lara

Miles Higgins