Casey Shade

Des Moines, Iowa – Coyote track and field members Casey Shade and Derek Miles will compete at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend at Drake Stadium. Shade qualified for the junior division of the 800 meters, while Miles will jump in the senior division of the pole vault.

Shade (Hartford, S.D.) enters the meet with the 11th fastest time after running a 1:51.40 at the 2010 Great West Conference Outdoor Championships on May 13 in Yankton. He faces a stout field of 22 runners in the event, including Virginia’s Robby Andrews who won the 800 meters at the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. Andrews finished second at the outdoor championships and has the top seed time at 1:45.54. A total of five athletes in the field have run under 1:50. The first round of the event is run at 1:10 p.m. on Thursday and the winner of each of the three heats, plus the top five times, will advance to Friday’s final at 1:40 p.m.

A five-time All-American at USD, Miles (Tea, S.D.) has gone on to appear in two Olympics for the U.S. He enters the weekend with the top mark in a field of 17 after clearing 19-0 1/4 at the California Relays on May 29. Miles tied for second at the meet last year and won the Olympic Trials in 2008. His event gets underway at 5:45 p.m. on Friday.

Athletes at the junior level cannot turn 20 years old during 2010, while the senior division is open to all who meet the entry standards. The top three finishers in each event at the junior level will qualify for the IAAF’s Junior World Championships on July 19-25 in Moncton, Canada. For more information on the meets, click on the links above.