June 7, 2007
The second day of competition at the NCAA Championships concluded this evening on the campus of Sacramento State with five more Stanford athletes qualifying for the finals in their respective events. Junior Erica McLain highlighted the day for the Cardinal as she captured All-American honors by taking third place in the long jump.
Men
DECATHLON
The final day of decathlon competition began today as Josh Hustedt looked to get off to a good start in the 110 meter hurdles. Hustedt did just that as he sprinted and leaped his way to a third place finish in his heat, which was good enough for a fourth place overall finish and 908 points overall. The leader, Jangy Addy of Tennessee, took first place for the fourth time in six events as he recorded a time of 13.96 to earn 980 points.
The seventh overall event in the decathlon was the discus throw. Hustedt recorded a mark of 112-06 (34.28m) on his first throw, but was unable to improve on that distance as he fouled in his next two attempts. He ended up with a 12th place finish in flight two, 24th place overall, to earn 549 points. With three events to go, Hustedt sits in sixth place with 5326 points, 647 points behind the leader. Addy's amazing streak continued as he won his fifth event of the competition with a toss of 150-01 (45.74m), earning 782 points.
Unfortunately for Hustedt, he was unable to get over the bar in the pole vault, as he failed to earn any points in the event. He passed on the first seven heights and decided to enter the competition at 4.70 meters, but was unsuccessful in his three attempts. As a result, Hustedt dropped to 24th place, and decided to withdraw from the decathlon competition.
TRACK
In section one of the 1500 meter semifinals, sophomore Garrett Heath earned a second place finish, fourth place overall, in a time of 3:44.30 to automatically qualify for the Saturday's final at 11:10 a.m. Heath found himself in third place after the first 400 meters, but dropped all the way back to sixth after the second lap. With one lap left, he had moved up to fourth place and managed to kick it into gear down the home stretch to earn a second place finish.
Senior Russell Brown competed in flight two of the 1500 meter semifinals and just like his teammate, earned a second place heat finish, third place overall, with a time of 3:42.01. Brown was the pace setter nearly the entire way, recording a time of 2:00.8 for the first 800 meters. As the pack came down the stretch, Vincent Rono of South Alabama was able to slip by into the lead, but Brown was able to hold off Leonel Manzano of Texas to take second place and automatically qualify for the finals.
In the 10,000 meter finals, senior Brett Gotcher put forth a strong effort, but finished in 25th place with a time of 30:22.48. After the first five laps, Gotcher was running in 11th place out of 26 competitors, and moved up seven spots into fourth at the halfway mark. However, with about nine laps to go Gotcher started to drop back a bit as he fell to 20th place. He was unable to make up any ground and finished the race in 25th place.
Women
TRACK
In flight one of the 800 meter semifinals, Ashley Freeman started well, fighting for position in the middle of the pack. By the end of the first 400 meters however, she had fallen to last place and ended in that same spot, unable to qualify for the finals, with a time of 2:12.28.
The contingent of Cardinal runners, senior Arianna Lambie, and sophomores Lauren Centrowitz and Alicia Follmar, all qualified for Saturday's final of the 1500 meter run after outstanding efforts in today's semifinals.
Lambie got out to the early lead after the first 400 meters, while Follmar ran in fourth and Centrowitz in 11th. At the completion of 800 meters, Lambie was still the top runner, while Centrowitz moved up eight spots into third place and Follmar was in fifth. With one lap to go, Lambie and Follmar were side by side at the top with Centrowitz not far behind in fifth position.
As the runners came down the final straight away, Lambie was passed by Susan Kuijken of Florida State, earning second place finish, third place overall, with a time of 4:16.04 to qualify for the finals.
Follmar dropped back a bit into fifth place, ninth place overall, but managed to qualify for the finals as she posted her career best time of 4:17.90, moving into a tie for tenth on Stanford's All-Time Top Ten list.
Centrowitz was able to respond in a big way as well, as she too ran a career best time of 4:18.51 for an eighth place finish, 12th place overall, earning the final qualifying spot into the finals.
FIELD
In the first final of the competition, Erica McLain earned a third place finish in the long jump for the second year in a row to capture the ninth All-American honor of her career. McLain fouled on her first jump and then scored a mark of 6.41 meters on her second. On her third attempt she tied her career best mark of 21-05 ¼ (6.53m), securing the bronze medal.
"It feels good," said McLain when asked about earning the ninth All-American honor of her career. "My specialty is the triple jump, but I think I showed I can compete in the long jump as well. There was some great competition this year. Seeing all the long marks early just motivated me to try and match their efforts."
Mclain will attempt to continue her success as she is set to compete in the triple jump beginning tomorrow at 3:15 p.m. She enters the event as the No. 1 seed and American collegiate record holder with a mark of 46-5 ¼ (14.15m).
Day Two Results
MEN
110 METER HURDLES (DECATHLON)
4. Josh Hustedt - 14.52 (908 points)
DISCUS THROW (DECATHLON)
24. Hustedt - 112-06; 34.28m (549 points)
POLE VAULT (DECATHLON)
--. Hustedt - No Height (0 points)
1500 METER RUN (SEMIFINALS)
3. Russell Brown - 3:42.01 (qualified for finals)
4. Garrett Heath - 3:44.30 (qualified for finals)
10,000 METER RUN (FINAL)
25. Brett Gotcher - 30:22.48
WOMEN
800 METER RUN (SEMIFINALS)
16. Ashley Freeman - 2:12.28
LONG JUMP (FINALS)
3. Erica McLain - 21-05 ¼, 6.53m (Earned All-American honors)
1500 METER RUN (SEMIFINALS)
3. Arianna Lambie - 4:16.04 (qualified for finals)
5. Alicia Follmar - 4:17.90 (qualified for finals)
12. Lauren Centrowitz - 4:8.51 (qualified for finals)
Stanford Athletes Competing Tomorrow
FRIDAY, JUNE 8
Field Events
Triple Jump: M, Qualifying -- 1:45 ( Feranmi Okanlami )
Triple Jump: W, Qualifying -- 4:00 ( Erica McLain )
Discus: M, Finals -- 5:15 ( Michael Robertson )
Pole Vault: M, Finals -- 6:15 ( Graeme Hoste )
Running Events
3000 Steeeplechase: W, Finals -- 7:25 ( Lindsay Allen )
5000 Meters: M, Finals -- 7:45 ( Jacob Gomez, Hari Mix )
5000 Meters: W, Finals -- 8:10 ( Teresa McWalters )