The first day of action of the NCAA meet mostly consisted of preliminary action but there were a few final events conducted of Friday. Both the men's & women's 5000 Meter Runs were conducted and they were hardly lacking in excitement. Kathy Kroeger of Stanford did all the early work as a pacemaker and was still leading, when she went through the 2K with Natosha Rogers of Texas A & M following.
Kathy Kroeger of Stanford leads early
Although there was some jockeying for position behind her including Aliphne Tuliamuk of Wichita State passing Rogers to take over second it was still Kroeger still diligently doing the yeoman work in the race. The race really began in earnest with seven laps to go, when Elvin Kibet of Arizona made a move. Her effort seemed to prompt the field into action and Betsy Saina of Iowa State boldly took the lead. Deborah Maier of California, who has made great strides this season covered Kibet's move and with a lap and a half to go. it appeared at first that she would quickly create a gap over her rival as she had had two weeks ago in the Mountain Pacific Championship but this time she failed to surge away at the end, which opened the door for Saina. Maier would later note that the dryness of the Idaho Center had an impact and, of course, she was also running at an unusual altitude for her but Saina struck back early in the last lap to seal the victory. The winning time was 15:38 and Maier finished in 15:40. Tuliamuk garnered third ten seconds later and was followed home by Meaghan Nelson of Iowa State (15:52) & Sara Sutherland of Texas. Kibet placed sixth in 16:00 - just ahead of Natosha Rogers & Sarah Waldron of New Mexico took eighth. Megan Goethals of Washington took ninth in 16:13 & Kathy Kroeger was tenth. Defending women's team champion Oregon took a hit, when Alex Kosinski & Bronwyn Crossman came in 14th & 15th and failed to score points in the event.
Oregon did get a boost, however, in the Distance Medley when Becca Friday, Chizoba Okadogbe, Laura Roesler & Anne Kesselring secured second place. As fine as that effort was it took a back seat to the effort of the women of Washington, who claimed the title. The team of Chelsea Orr, Jordan Carlson and Baylee Mires, a freshman from Mead High in Spokane, kept the Huskies in contention and then Katie Flood ran a stirring final leg to cap the victory. Their winning time of 11:05.20 topped Oregon's 11:05.85, although it was well off their school record of 10:55, which they set two weeks ago. Dartmouth surprised for third place.
Whitney Gipson of TCU established a new meet record in the Long Jump with a leap of 20-08 (6.91m). Leah Eber of Purdue was second in 6.43, while Karynn Dunn & Arantxa King, both from Stanford, garnered third & fourth respectively with marks of 6.41 & 6.42. The High Jump laurels went to Brigitta Barret of Arizona who jumped 1.96. Krystle Schade of Alabama earned second in 1.84 & Natasha McClaren of Connecticut was third with 1.81. The Weight Throw was the other final event on Friday for the women and it was claimed by Ida Storm of UCLA with 21.48. Brittany Smith of Illinois state & Felicia Johnson of Indiana State placed 2nd & 3rd.
Qualifying in the Women's Mile left fans in anticipation after a number of runners breezed in with times near the facility record. Lucy Van Dalen of Stone Brook led the way for all runners by winning her section in a time of 4:40.29. Morgan gay of Virginia (4:40.45) & Kristen Gillespie (4:41) were right behind Dale, while Oregon's Jordan Hasay looked comfortable in winning her heat in 4:41. Aisha Praught of Illinois State was second in 4:41. Becca Friday & Anne Kesselring of Oregon also qualified for Saturday's final but Laura Carlyle of Oregon State ran 4:46 & failed to move on as did Cory McGee & Emily Lipari among others.
The men’s 5K saw Parker Stinson of Oregon up front early but the race took on an African feeling, as Leonard Korir of Iona & Stephen Sambu of Arizona soon moved to the front. That pair led through the first 400M in 66 seconds and held court until shortly before the 800 mark, which saw Lawi Lalang of Arizona take over the lead. His split was 2:15 and he continued out in front running splits of 63 and then 64. Stanford’s Chris Derrick began to edge his way through the chase pack and held fourth place at that time.
Stanford’s Jake Riley, who was in fifth place early, was just a bit back of his fellow Cardinal Team mate at that point. Hassan Mead of Minnesota took a brief turn on point but the ensuing laps saw the bulk of the challengers fade and the contenders were quickly whittled to Lalang, Sambu & Derrick and over the passage of the next few laps even Sambu fell off the pace. Derrick is not one to let things ride until a last minute kick and he made a brave move with 300 meters to go and bolted to the front. It was a bold move, which at first seemed like it might succeed but Lalang stormed back with as the bell sounded and went on to claim victory in a time of 13:25.11 to edge Derrick by a second and a half. Stephen Sambu placed third by himself in a time of 13:33 and Cameron Levine of Southern Utah earned fourth in 13:38 – just barely ahead of Diego Estrada of Northern Arizona. Hassan mead garnered seventh in 13:51 and had a two second margin over Donn Cabral of Princeton. Oklahoma State runners Shadrack Kipchirchir & Girma Mecheso rounded out the top ten, while Soufiane Bouchikhi of Eastern Kentucky and Jake Riley of Stanford both ran versions of 13:57 to finish 11th & 12th respectively and were the last two runners to break fourteen minutes. Parker Stinson of Oregon crossed the line in thirteenth.
The Distance Medley was so hotly contested that the top eight teams all finished within three seconds of each other. With so many teams still in the title hunt it was very congested at hand-off time. The high-light of the race was the anchor leg by Miles Batty of BYU, who came from well back in the pack with a 1600 split of an unofficial 3:57. Racing down the final straight-away Jeremy Rae of Notre Dame & Andrew Bayer of Indiana held on for first and second and finished just in front of the hard-charging Batty. The winning time was 9:35.48, while Indiana ran 9:35.67. Batty crossed the line in 9:36.07 just four-hundredths of a second ahead of Elliott Heath of Stanford. It was a fine effort by Heath, who was coming off an injury and had limited base mileage. Arkansas & Oklahoma placed fifth & sixth both and were credited with versions of 9:36, while Texas A & M and Ohio State ran 9:37 & 9:38.
The shot put final was an entertaining affair, which grew very exciting with the final throws. If it is possible to suggest the event can have a sprint to the finish, such was the case on Friday. Texas freshman Ryan Crouser was in a tie for second until the final two throws in spite of knee & hamstring issues, which left him at less than a hundred percent. What ensued in the final portion of the event was a rather stunning display of gutsy & timely throwing, which saw a titanic shift in positions. At least three competitors threw personal bests late in the event, which caused even the participants to shake their head in a bit of disbelief after the final throws. One stated it was the finest event he had ever been involved in and his comment received quick agreement. When the proverbial dust had settled Jordan Clarke of Arizona State had earned the victory with his late toss of 20.86m and Jacob Thormachlen of Texas was a solid second with 20.50. Kemal Mesic of Florida bombed yet another late heave to claim third in 20.44 and Stephen Saenz of Auburn (20.08) placed fourth. Crouser barely missed the twenty meter mark with his 19.94, although he had a final throw that may well have been beyond but was a foul. Still he was easily the leading freshman.
During the course of the weekend many facility records fell but one, which resisted the weekend assault, was the Pole Vault record of Oregon great Tommy Skipper, who cleared 5.71 in 2004. Andrew Irwin of Arkansas triumphed with a vault of 5.55. Marvin Reize of South Carolina (5.50) placed second ahead of Jack Whitt of Oral Roberts with fewer misses and Kevin Schipper of Notre Dame edged Cale Simmons of Air Force, who both soared 5.45, for fourth. Simmons, rather appropriately, went to the local Birds of Prey exhibit with his family the following day. Maston Wallace of Texas placed sixth in 5.40 & BYU’s Victor Weirich went 5.30, which was good for tenth. Local fans had Jeremy Klas to be proud of after his tie for eleventh place.
The other final held on Friday was the 200 meter Dash for men, which also saw the preliminaries being run earlier. Ameer Webb scored ten points for his Texas A & M team with his 20.57 clocking. He had only five-hundredths of a second margin over Akheem Gauntlett of Arkansas, while Maurice Mitchell of Florida State (20.66) was right behind in third with 20.66. Kind Butler of Indiana secured fourth with 20.78 and Horatio Williams of Florida State took fifth in 20.89.