June 8, 2005
Sacramento, Ca - First the prelims, then the finals. The formula for winning an NCAA individual title at the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Track & Field Championships is pretty simple.
And for several Stanford athletes, the first step towards a possible national title began on a rainy Wednesday at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University.
Ian Dobson ran the second-fastest time in the prelims of the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:54.30. Michigan's Nick Willis had the day's best time (13:54.24) while Chris Emme also qualified with the day's ninth-best time (13:58.44). Sixteen runners advanced to Saturday's final (7:50 p.m.) including Ryan Hall, who toured the distance in 14:21.43.
Sara Bei, runner up in the women's 5,000 meters at last year's NCAA's, ran the fastest time in the prelims at 16:12.57. Teresa McWalters also qualified for Saturday's final (8:10 p.m.) with a time of 16:19.60.
In the women's 800 meters, Ashley Freeman advanced to Thursday's semifinals (6:45 p.m.) with a time of 2:05.90. Freeman finished third in her heat and her time is 14th-best among the 16 runners who advanced to the semifinals. Chinny Offor ended her 2005 outdoor season with a fourth place finish (third heat) and 18th overall amongst 27 competitors with a season-best time of 2:06.42.
Janice Davis just missed by two/one hundreths of a second in qualifying for the finals in the women's 100 meters. Davis, the 2005 NCAA West Regional champion, began the day's competition with a time of 11.69 in Round 1. That time advanced her to the semifinals later in the evening, and she ran a 11.55 to just miss the ninth and final spot in the finals which was grabbed by Halima DeCree of UNLV (11.53). Marshevet Hooker of Texas and Cleo Tyson of Texas had the day's best times at 11.33.
On Thursday, the finals of the men's (9:20 p.m.) and women's (10:00 p.m.) 10,000 meters will be contested. Brett Gotcher will compete in the men's 10,000 meters while Alicia Craig will try to earn a third straight national title in the women's 10,000 meters. Seven more Cardinal athletes and the women's 1,600 meter relay will begin preliminary competition at the NCAA Championships. The list includes Sarah Hopping in the hammer (1:00 p.m.), Michael Robertson in the discus (3:15 p.m.), Ashley Purnell in the 200 meters (5:30 p.m.), Undine Becker in the 400 meter hurdles (6:10 p.m.), Russell Brown and Donald Sage in the 1500 meters (7:35 p.m.), Arianna Lambie in the 1500 meters (8:00 p.m.) and the women's 1600 meter relay team (9:00 p.m.).
For complete results, go to www.ncaasports.com.
Cardinal Catalogue:, Alicia Craig will be attempting to make Stanford history on Thursday (10:00 p.m.) when she will attempt to win three straight NCAA 10,000 meter titles ... Only three athletes in Stanford track & field history have accomplished that rare feat ... Lauren Fleshman won the 5,000 meters (2001-03), Bud Held won the javelin (1948-50) and Harlow Rothert won the shot put (1928-30) ... Ian Dobson is one of nine men's athletes who is attempting to sweep both the 2005 indoor and outdoor national titles ... Dobson, earlier this year, won the 5,000 meters at the NCA A Indoor Championship.
NCAA Notes: There are a total of 1,088 student-athletes (544 men, 544 women) competing at this year's NCAA Track & Field Championships ... Stanford has 25 competitors (14 women, 10 men, one women's relay team) competing at this year's NCAA Championships, the fifth-most number of competitors in this meet ... Texas Tech leads the list with 31, followed by Nebraska (28), Arkansas (27) and USC (26) ... Despite the rainy conditions in Sacramento on Wednesday, hot weather is expected the rest of the meet which concludes on Saturday night.
First Day Results (NCAA Division I Men's & Women's Track & Field Championships)
Hornet Stadium, Sacramento State University
Men's Results
100 Meters (Round 1) - 1. Kyle Farmer (Florida) 10.30q; 23. Wopamo Osaisai (Stanford) 10.59nq
5,000 Meters (prelims) - 1. Nick Willis (Michigan) 13:54.24q; 2. Ian Dobson (Stanford) 13:54.30q; 9. Chris Emme (Stanford) 13:58.44q; 16. Ryan Hall (Stanford) 14:21.43q; 23. Neftalem Araia (Stanford) 14:31.96nq
Women's Results
100 Meters (Semfinals) - 1. Marshevet Hooker (Texas) 11.33q; 12. Janice Davis (Stanford) 11.55nq
400 Meters (Round 1) - 1. Monique Henderson (UCLA) 51.56q; 23. Nashonme Johnson (Stanford) 53.97nq; 26. Christine Moschella (Stanford) 54.47nq
800 Meters (Round 1) - 1. Lysaira Roman-DelValle (Kansas State) 2:04.85q; 14. Ashley Freeman (Stanford) 2:05.90q; 18. Chinny Offor (Stanford) 2:06.42nq
3,000 Meter Steeplechase (Round 1) - 1. Victoria Mitchell (Butler) 10:07.02q; 28. Jeane Goff (Stanford) 10:35.91nq
5,000 Meters (Prelims) - 1. Sara Bei (Stanford) 16:12.57q; 12. Teresa McWalters (Stanford) 16:19.60q™