May 24, 2013
Results
AUSTIN, Texas - Washington State University senior Shawna Fermin was the lone Cougar Friday to advance to next month's national championships from the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin. The day included a six-hour delay for some field athletes and a three hour delay for track athletes due to storm conditions that included thunder, lightning and torrential sheets of rain.
Fermin's third place finish in her heat of the 400m dash quarterfinals pushed her through to the national championships meet and semifinals race June 5. The senior from Victorville, Calif., ran a quarterfinal time of 53.16 seconds. Fermin competed at the 2012 NCAA Championships, finishing 18th in the 400m dash in her lifetime-best time of 52.99. She is also scheduled to run on the Cougar women's 4x100m and 4x400m relays Saturday in Austin.
Jesse Jorgensen (redshirt sophomore, Puyallup, Wash.) just missed qualifying for the men's 800m at the national meet by a mere 1/100s second. Jorgensen ran a time equal to his lifetime-best of 1 minute, 49.56 seconds which was 13th Friday night with only the top 12 advancing to Eugene.
Brett Blanshan (senior, Selah, Wash.) ran a first round 200m dash in a time of 21.84, 45th on the day. Blanshan will run on the WSU men's 4x100m relay Saturday evening.
In the women's 800m quarterfinals, Courtney Zalud (redshirt junior, Colbert, Wash.) ran a time of 2:09.86, 23rd on the day, and will not advance to the national meet. Zalud ran a lifetime-best time of 2:08.22 Thursday to qualify for the Friday race.
After a very strong first half of the race, Caroline Austin (Chehalis, Wash.), the WSU record-holder in the women's 3000m steeplechase, ran a time of 10:55.66 for 43rd place, finishing just after midnight Central Time.
Andrew Gonzales (junior, Kennewick, Wash.) finished 22nd in the men's 3000m steeplechase, achieving a time of 8:54.81, just off his PR of 8:54.17. Gonzales ran in the third heat, which ended just after 1 a.m. CT.
In Friday field events, Ashley Kenney (senior, Spokane Valley, Wash.) did not advance from the first round of the women's discus after throwing 149-4 (45.52m) which was 42nd place. The women's discus began at Noon CT and the competition ended just before 11:30 p.m. CT but a protest kept the results from being finalized for some time after that.
In the women's pole vault, Kristine Felix (freshman, Wailuku, Hawai'i) passed the opening height of 12-2, and then cleared the bar at 12-8 (3.86m) on her third attempt. Felix, the 2013 Pac-12 Champion, missed all her attempts at 13-1 3/4 (4.01m) and tied for 25th. Kelsey Bueno (junior, Kent, Wash.) missed all three attempts with the bar at 12-2 (3.71m).
Holly Parent (junior, Victoria, B.C. Canada) cleared the women's high jump opening height of 5-5 1.65m) on her second attempt. Parent missed all three attempts at 5-7 (1.70m), just clipping the bar with her heels on her final attempt, and finished tied at 39th.
The NCAA West Region Preliminary Round Track & Field Championships conclude Saturday, May 25, with the final competition to narrow down the 12 spots in each event that will advance to the NCAA Championships June 5-8 in Eugene.
