Our first day of competition at the US National/Junior National championships was today. We had two athletes competing and both qualified for their respective finals. Freshman Angie Kaplar ran 14.14 to finish third in her qualifying heat and grab the eighth and final qualifying spot by .01 seconds in the 100 hurdle junior event. This event was loaded with other outstanding college freshmen and some of the best high school seniors in the country. Running in lane eight in the final Angie got a solid start, but clipped the ninth hurdle and ran 14.34 to finish eighth. Based on seasonal best times Kaplar was ranked ninth entering the meet so to make the final and move up a position was a great effort and an invaluable championship experience for her.
Former Ute and volunteer assistant, Shayla Houlihan (now running for Brooks) competed with the "big" girls in the 3K steeplechase marking her first championship appearance. It went as planned as she finished fourth in the first heat to grab one of the automatic qualifying spots and move on to Sunday's final. Her time was a new lifetime best of 10:02.17 which bettered her previous best mark by .83 seconds.
Overall, it was a great first day. This is a championship event and the goal for all of our women is to advance to the finals in their events. After that...anything is possible. It can be anyone's day.
Tomorrow is another big day as our other three freshmen will compete in their preliminary rounds. Amanda Mergaert and Megan Combe will run in the 1500 meter prelims and Lauryn McKay will line up in the 400 meter dash. Go to http://www.usatf.org/events/2010/USAJuniorOutdoorTFChampionships/schedule.asp for live results.
The meet can also be seen on line at http://www.usatf.org/events/2010/USAJuniorOutdoorTFChampionships/video.asp or www.flotrack.org
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