EUGENE, Ore. -- Washington State's Kaili Keefe and Stephanie Cho were not able to advance from their semifinals races Thursday at the NCAA Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on the Oregon campus in Eugene.
 
Keefe ran a lifetime-best 1500m time of 4 minutes 15.39 seconds which was sixth in the second heat of the semifinals where the top five advance to the final. Keefe had to fight her way through the middle of the pack and looked to have the fifth spot with 30 meters left in the race but was nipped at the finish line. Since the first heat was the faster of the two, the final two spots went to runners in that race who had faster times. Keefe, a sophomore from Yakima, Wash., finished 16th overall but her time is second-best in WSU all-time records.
 
Junior Stephanie Cho (Vancouver, B.C. Canada) ran a time of 59.06 seconds in the 400m hurdles semifinals, seventh-best in her heat and 20th overall. Cho's lifetime-best time of 58.12, run at the NCAA West Region Prelims, is fourth-best in WSU all-time records.
 
THEY SAID:
Wayne Phipps, WSU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field said, "We had some very good performances over the last two days led by All-American performances by Brock and Kaili. Kaili ran an awesome race and got passed within inches of the finish with no time to respond. She missed the final by .04 seconds but ran another great PR and ran her last 800m in an outstanding 2:12. All of the athletes who have competed so far for us return next year so we are very excited about this group for next year and, of course, for Alissa over the next two days."
 
NOTEWORTHY:

• Wednesday, Brock Eager placed 14th in the men's hammer, Sander Moldau placed tied for 17th in the men's pole vault, and Chandler Teigen finished 24th in the men's 1500m semifinals
• Alissa Brooks-Johnson will compete in the heptathlon events Friday and Saturday