June 11, 2009
Fayetteville, Ark. - The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships continued from John McDonnell Field on Thursday as the Cardinal competed in their first finals of the meet. Sophomore Jake Riley earned the first All-America honor of his career, while Arantxa King placed ninth in the long jump. Several other Cardinal men and women competed with some advancing to finals later in the meet.
The men were led by Riley who finished eighth in the final of the 10,000 meters. Riley scored one point for the Cardinal to put them in a tie for 19th in the very early goings of the meet. His time of 29:14.53 trailed Galen Rupp of Oregon who took the title with a time of 28:21.45. The finish for Riley also gives him his first All-America honor of his career.
Also faring well in the distances was Garrett Heath in the 1,500 meters. Heath won his heat with a time of 3:44.22 and advanced to Saturday's final. Heath will be the third seed in the final of an event that he has been an All-American in the past two seasons.
In the discus, Daniel Schaerer also advanced to the final as one of the top seeds. Schaerer placed third in the prelims with a toss of 196-8. He will complete his Stanford career on Saturday in the final.
The final qualifier of the day was Myles Bradley in the 110-meter hurdles. Bradley placed third in his heat with a time of 13.85. He will advance to Friday's semifinal as the ninth seed.
The other Stanford competitor on the day was Amaechi Morton in the semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles. Morton placed seventh in his heat with a time of 51.07 and will not advance to the final.
Arantxa <!>King |
King led the Stanford women with her ninth-place finish in the long jump. She finished just out of the team points for Stanford and also just missed the first All-America honor of her young career. Her jump of 20-1 ½ trailed Kimberly Williams of Florida State who took the national title with a leap of 21-5 ½.
Also faring well for the Stanford women was Lauren Centrowitz in the 1,500 meters. Centrowitz advanced to the final after placing third in her heat with a time of 4:15.54. She will be the seventh seed in the Saturday's final.
Also competing in the 1,500 meters, but failing to advance was Alicia Follmar. Follmar finished 15th with a time of 4:18.69, but only 12 advanced to the final.
Competing in the qualifying of the women's discus was Michaela Wallerstedt. Wallerstedt placed 24th in the event with a toss of 153-6 and will not advance.
Wallerstedt did receive some good news as she was named All-American in the shot put. Although she did not make the final on Thursday, her 13th-place finish was among the top eight Americans. It is the first All-America honor of her career.
The Cardinal will continue with day three of the NCAA Championships on Friday. The day will feature Whitney Liehr in qualifying of the triple jump and Bradley in the semifinals of the high hurdles. The highlight of the evening will come from the finals of the 5,000 meters, which is scheduled for 6:40 pm PST. In this event, Chris Derrick and Elliott Heath will compete for the NCAA title.