NCAA Champs: Blood finishes third in 10k, scores first points for Oregon

By Jack Pfeifer
photos by Kim Spier

EUGENE, Ore. – Nicole Blood, running just the third 10,000 of her career, finished third in the NCAA final here at the University of Oregon on a cool, rainy evening at Hayward Field Wednesday, scoring 6 points for the hometown Ducks. Blood, the senior who had a storied high school career at Saratoga Springs, will be doubling back in the 5,000 final on Friday.

“It was a really long race,” said Blood, who ran 33:22.62, a lifetime best, finishing behind two Iowa State teammates, Lisa Koll and Betsy Saina. “My goal was to be tough, hang on and finish strong. I wanted to run a hard last two miles, but (the pace) really picked up.”

Koll, a senior who broke the collegiate record for the 10k earlier this spring, broke away from the lead pack with 3,000 meters to go and quickly put a gap between herself and the rest of the field. The ensuing chase pack broke apart, as Blood moved up, fell back, then in the final two laps tried to move up again.

“My goal was to just score as high as I could,” Blood said. “I was still fighting for those top places.

“The crowd carried me,” she said of the 9,891 people in attendance, most of whom were on hand to cheer on their Ducks, who are in contention in both team races. “I totally needed that, especially that last 600 meters when I felt like I had nothing left.” Down the final straight, Blood was straining to hold off Clara Grandt of West Virginia and Pasca Cheruiyot of Florida State. All three finished with a second of each other. Two crucial team points were at stake.

“I ran my heart out out there today,” Blood said. “Tomorrow I’ll spend the day on the couch, then I’ll be back on Friday” and do it again.

The women’s team race got even tighter on Day 1 of these championships when Texas A&M’s Gabby Mayo withdrew from the meet with a strained quad, apparently injured two weeks ago at Regionals and then aggravated in warm-ups here. Mayo was one of the contenders in the hurdles, along with Queen Harrison of Virginia Tech, the favorite, and also typically ran anchor leg on A&M’s top-seeded 4x1 team. She is now expected to be replaced on that leg by teammate Jessica Beard, who advanced Wednesday in the individual 400 and will also anchor the Aggies’ 4x400 team.

“We’re going to try and get as many people as possible into the finals,” Beard said.

Harrison won her heat of the 400 hurdles Wednesday with the fastest time of the semifinal round, 55.35, to win Heat I. New Yorker Fawn Dorr, senior at Penn State, won Heat III in 56.16, but Dalilah Muhammad, USC sophomore and Cardozo graduate, finished third in that heat in 57.85 and failed to advance, missing the final time qualifying position by .14. Muhammad has been bothered by a knee injury this spring. She was 3^rd in this meet a year ago.

Jernail Hayes of Seton Hall also failed to advance, running 58.38. Miami qualified three into the final, including the Jameson sisters, Tameka and Takecia, both of whom were members of some of the outstanding relay teams at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Maryland when they were younger.

In the men’s competition, where Oregon is expected to contend with Texas A&M and Florida for the team championship, one of the feature anticipated finals was set up when Andrew Wheating of Oregon, the defending champion, and Robby Andrews, the Virginia freshman, both moved on to the 800 final. Andrews came from well back over the last 200 to win Heat I in 1:45.54, his fastest ever and the third-fastest ever run by a U.S. Junior.

“It’s real tough out there,” Andrews said. “Those guys are unbelievable.” Oregon’s Travis Thompson took the field through a very fast 50.60 first 400, and the first five finishers all ran under 1:46.2. Andrews’s teammate at Virginia, sophomore Lance Roller, finished 4^th in a lifetime-best 1:46.11 to get the final time qualifier. Roller is from Cortlandt Manor, Andrews from Manalapan, N.J. Wheating cruised to victory in his heat in 1:48.80.

“It’s such a loaded final,” Andrews said. “Nothing is given. I’m just thankful to be in the final.”

On the first day of competition, Florida scored 13 points and A&M 14 in the men’s triple jump as the Gators went 1-6 behind Christian Taylor’s winning 56-1w and A&M went 2-3. Devon Bond of Texas-San Antonio, junior from Trenton Central, was a surprise fifth, jumping 53-1 3/4w.

In the women’s 100, with Mayo missing from Heat I, the race was won by upstart Trisha-Ann Hawthorne, the UConn junior from Westchester County. Hawthorne ran 11.38 with an aiding +0.9 wind, a lifetime best, to advance to Friday’s final. Despite missing Mayo, A&M qualified two others in the event, Jeneba Tarmoh (11.05w) and Porscha Lucas (11.07w). “It was probably the best race I’ve had all year,” Tarmoh said.

In the 400, the heat winners were Beard (52.42); the defending champion, Joanna Atkins (51.88) of Auburn, and the indoor champion, Francena McCorory (52.04) of Hampton. Sharay Hale of Columbia was in good position in Heat III after a strong first 300, but Brandi Cross of South Carolina caught her with 30 meters to go for second place, and Hale’s time of 53.34 was .04 short of the final qualifying position.

Other Regional results included:

·      UConn’s Brian Gagnon and Michael Rutt finished 5^th and 6^th in Heat II of the men’s 800, both running 1:47. In Heat III, Cas Loxsom and Ryan Foster of Penn State finished 3^rd and 8^th. None advanced to the final.

·      In the men’s steeplechase, New Yorker John Martinez of North Carolina State made the final on time, finishing 7^th in Heat I in 8:43.82, just .12 off his lifetime best. Ryan McDermott of Duke was a non-qualifying 12^th in 8:55. Princeton’s Donn Cabral (Glastonbury, Conn.) won Heat II in 8:42. “The crowd was awesome,” Cabral said. “I have never raced in front of a crowd like that.”

·      In the men’s IH, a big final was set up between Jeshua Anderson of Washington State and Johnny Dutch of South Carolina. Both won their heats eased-up. Brooklyn’s Steve Delice, senior at Virginia, finished 4^th in Heat II in 51.24 and did not advance, while Aaron Younger of Rutgers fell and did not finish.

·      In the women’s 800, Kate Grace of Yale had a strong finish in Heat III and finished 3^rd in 2:05.32 to advance to the final on time. Hempstead’s Charlene Lipsey, freshman at LSU, took that group through a quick first 400 (60.34) but faded to 7^th, in 2:08.08. It rained hard throughout the 800 prelims. LSU’s other two competitors in the event, LaTavia Thomas and Kayann Thompson, moved on to the final, as did Phoebe Wright of Tennesseee, the favorite, and Christine Whalen of Georgetown.

·      Priscilla Frederick of St. John’s finished 6^th in the women’s high jump, clearing 5-9 ¼. She was one of eight women to clear at that height, but placed 6^th by virtue of clearing on her first attempt, after needing three attempts at her previous height.

·      Charles Cox (Monmouth Regional, NJ) of North Carolina failed to advance in the men’s 400, running 46.53 for 4^th place in Semi II. The slowest time qualifier was 45.74. Joey Hughes of Southern Cal had the fastest time, 45.15.

·      New Yorker Katie DiCamillo of Providence finished 18^th in the women’s 10k, in 33:53. Carly Seymour of Duke was 22^nd, Sarah Cummings of Princeton 23^rd.