Sacramento, Calif. (June 7, 2007)? Oklahoma's Kevin Bookout is the only other athlete at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships who can make the same claim as Milan Jotanovic.
By putting the shot 18.96m (62' 2.50”) during Thursday's preliminary round, Jotanovic joined Bookout as the only other thrower in the field that will be returning to Saturday's final for the third consecutive year.
Jotanovic's mark placed him fourth overall amongst the 26-entrant field behind only Noah Bryant of Southern California (19.79m), Anthony Greer of Appalachian State (19.24m), and Auburn's Cory Martin (19.22m). In what has become an annual ritual for the Jasper thrower, Jotanovic will contend for NCAA All-American honors in the 12-person final slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. EST on Saturday.
A two-time NCAA Indoor All-American, Jotanovic will be hoping to nail down his first ever outdoor All-America finish. He provided himself with an opportunity to do so by posting his best preliminary result of his three trips to nationals. Only Bryant, the 2007 NCAA Indoor Champion, bested Jotanovic in the second flight on Thursday afternoon. Ryan Whiting, who finished one place ahead of Jotanovic in third at March's indoor championships, was fifth in the flight and eighth overall at 18.76m.
Less than two weeks ago, Jotanovic won the NCAA East Region crown by hitting a personal best throw of 19.72m.
Before Jotanovic steps into the circle once again on Saturday, his classmate Dexter Jules is slated to compete in the men's triple jump qualifying round on Friday at 4:45 p.m. EST. Jules holds a seed mark of 15.86m (51' 11”), which he achieved by taking fourth place at the NCAA East Region Championships.
