TOWSON, Md. – The Tigers will send six qualifying student-athletes to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship meet to be held May 11-13 at Princeton University at the William Weaver Track and Field Stadium. Graduate student Katie Ogden will participate in the 10,000-meter run, senior Shianna Smith in the hammer throw, junior Jessica Cooke in the heptathlon, sophomore Evan Campbell in the high jump, and freshmen Emily Wenger and Alexis Appezzato in the 400-meter hurdles and javelin, respectively.

Ogden is coming off of a third-place finish in the 10K at the Colonial Athletic Association Championship meet last weekend, recording a time of 36:43.68 in the event and earning Towson six points. Ogden was one of three participating runners to record times under 37 minutes in the event. She is the Towson record-holder in the event, setting the pace at 36:18:14 at the 2011 ECACs. According to Towson Head Coach Roger Erricker, it’s Ogden’s persistence that has set her apart.

“We’re hoping for a repeat performance from her,” Erricker said. “She’s worked so hard and she’s done an incredible job. Katie is a story of perseverance and sticking to your goals.”

Smith is the school record-holder in the hammer and 20-pound weight throws events and has been a leader by example on the field. Her hammer throw of 168’ 8” at Bucknell earlier this season set the new record, but Erricker believes besting that mark is within reach.

“She’s a tremendous leader and a great worker,” he said. “We want Shianna to break the school record.”

Cooke has been a quiet star for the Tigers this season, and came through in the CAAs for the Tigers with a third-place performance in the heptathlon with 4,350 points. Erricker knows another strong performance could be had.

“She was All-CAA in the high jump as a sophomore and Jess is so talented,” he said. “Jess has a real shot at scoring for us this weekend.”

For Campbell, who Erricker called the team’s most valuable performer this season, she is tied for the highest jump in the CAA this season of 5’ 7”. That mark is tied for third on the Towson all-time list.

Wenger and Appezzato have made immediate impacts for the Tigers this season and have been consistently at the top of the leader board in each of their events.  Wenger already owns the fourth-fast 400-meter hurdles time in school history and was third in the event at the CAAs last week with a time of 1:01.96, while Appezzato was second in the javelin at the CAAs with a throw of 41.45 meters.

“It’s all about the stop watch and the tape-measure for freshmen,” Erricker said. “They are elite athletes and we were very fortunate to get them.”

The meet begins Friday at 12 p.m.