Boey Set For Track Outdoor National Meet

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois redshirt freshman sprinter Zye Boey will head to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships beginning Wednesday evening at John McDonnell Field. Boey will compete in the 100m dash as an automatic qualifier into the championships.

Boey enters the national meet ranked 10th in the nation this season in the 100m with a season-best time of 10.20. He placed fifth at the NCAA Mid East Regional in Louisville, Ky., on May 30 to earn an automatic trip. This will be Boey’s second trip to a national championship in his first season of competition after earning a trip to the NCAA Indoor National Championships in the 200m.

This season Boey has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Male Indoor and Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. His 10.20 ranks second on the EIU career charts trailing only Claude Magee’s 10.16 posted in 1984. Boey will run in the prelims at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday night with the semifinals set for 7:40 p.m. that same evening.

The last Eastern Illinois track and field athlete to advance to the NCAA Outdoor National Championships was Ron White in 2002 where he placed 6th in the javelin. The last track athlete to advance was Dan Steele in 1992 when he won the 400m hurdles.