Runners Advance at NCAA East Prelims
May 28, 2015 10:39 PM | General
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| Paladino |
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| Cashin |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University’s Kaitlyn Gillespie qualified for the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in the 10,000-meter run and a pair of Mountaineers advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1,500-meter run on day one of the NCAA East Region Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday.
“Two of the four two are through to the next round in the 1,500m and Katie has advanced to the finals in Eugene,” said coach Sean Cleary. “It marks a wonderful day for our program.”
The Big 12 champion in the 10,000-meter run, Gillespie clocked in at 33:56.69 to take fifth in the heat. The top 12 advanced to the National Championships in Eugene.
“Katie continued where she left off at the Big 12 meet,” said Cleary. “She came into the meet ranked seventh and will emerge as an automatic national qualifier with a fifth-place finish. As we leave the meet, it looks as if Katie will recover from this race very quickly, as she and the leaders were well aware that they were clear of the field in qualifying positions. We have waited a very long time for Katie to experience this performance, and one more race in a WVU uniform will establish her legacy.”
Amy Cashin and Millie Paladino earned trips to the quarterfinals of the 1,500-meter run with their performances in the first round. Cashin ran a season-best 4:21.59 to take sixth in her heat, finishing ninth overall to earn a spot in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Paladino also took sixth in her heat, running a 4:23.32 for 19th overall. To qualify for the quarterfinals, runners had to either finish in the top-5 of their heat or be one of the next four fastest overall times.
“I’m very excited to see our freshmen handle the pressure of today’s races in the manner in which they did,” said Cleary. “Only five freshman in the entire country advanced through to Saturday’s quarterfinals, and two of them run for West Virginia.
Brianna Kerekes narrowly missed qualifying, taking eighth in her heat and 20th overall after crossing the line in 4:24.09. Kelly Williams was 46th in 4:34.27.
“Brianna ran a wonderful race to finish as the first athlete not to advance. She was caught up with a fallen runner inside the last lap and had a tremendous effort to try and catch the pack, falling just one spot shy with a tremendous accomplishment. Coming as far as she did in the last 12 months tells me that she will be back with a vengeance. Kelly’s season ends today on a rough note. I have no doubt she will return at the level she aspires to compete at,” said Cleary.
Maggie Drazba will compete in the 5,000-meter run on Saturday at 8:05 p.m., while Shamoya McNeil will take part in the triple jump on Saturday at 4 p.m. Paladino and Cashin will look to advance to Eugene when they compete in the quarterfinals of the 1,500-meter run on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m.
The 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will be held June 10-13 in Eugene, Oregon.
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