Day Three Results

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The final day of competition at the NCAA East Regionals brought more success for the Big Red track teams including a broken school record and another athlete qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

In the men's high jump, Montez Blair succeeded in making the NCAA Outdoor Championships less tha three months after qualifying for the Indoor Championships. After electing to pass on the first height, Blair cleared the second and third heights (6' 9 1/2” and 6' 11 1/2”) on his first try and then did the same  with the fourth height, 7' 1”. Blair, already the school record holder at 7' 3 1/4”, continued to excel as other athletes failed to clear. On his third attempt at the fifth height, 7' 2 1/2”, Blair made it over the bar to move on. At that point, only 11 competitors remained alive, so the competition came to a close and Blair had clinched his spot in Iowa.

Peter Roach got the day off to a terrific start in the pole vault, setting a new personal and school outdoor record. After failing on his first attempts at each of the first two heights, Roach sailed over the bar on his second try. But with the bar raised even higher to 16' 11 1/2”, Roach needed just one try to eclipse the top mark in school history. He passed his previous personal best – set earlier this year – by two full inches. And the old school record of 16' 10 3/4”, held by Evan Whitehall from 2007, was surpassed by 3/4 of an inch.

When the bar was raised another four inches to 17' 3 1/2”, though, Roach could not clear the height and his day was ended. Roach just barely missed clearing the bar on his final attempt, slightly grazing the bar but moving it enough to cause it to fall. He finished the event in 23rd place.

Also competing in the high jump was Tommy Butler. After clearing the opening height of 6' 7 1/2” on his first attempt and the second height of 6' 9 1/2” on his second, Butler could not make it over the third height of 6' 11 1/2”, which would have been a personal record by half an inch. He finished his season tied for 32nd place.

Bob Belden's day in the shot put was a successful one as he fouled on his first attempt but got better on his second and third. Heaving the shot 51' 5 3/4” on his second try, he improved by nearly five full feet on his third attempt. He reached 56' 4”, and he sat in ninth place through two of four flights of athletes. When the third group had gone, though, Belden's effort was not good enough to place him the top 12, and his season came to a close.

Stephen Mozia's spectacular freshman season ended on Saturday as well when he could not make it into the top 12 in the shot put. After a first throw that went over 48 feet, Mozia's second attempt went for that eight feet farther at 56' 6”. His third attempt was even better, landing 58' 2 1/2” away. Still, that was only good enough for a 21st-place finish.

Cornell's women's 4x400 relay crossed the finish line of their heat in 3:42.90, an excellent effort. But in the end, the Big Red's time was not enough to qualify it for the NCAA Championships. Zena Kolliesuah, Kelsey Reimnitz, Emily Woodford and Ebolutalese Airewele had a phenomenal season, but it came to an end in Jacksonville with a 21st-place finish.

After three days of competition at the NCAA East Regionals, Cornell has qualified three additional athletes for the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 6-9. With Thursday's excellent 10K effort, junior Katie Kellner will be present in Iowa. On  Friday night, junior Genna Hartung placed 11th in the 3K steeplechase to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships. And with Saturday's terrific performance in the high jump, Montez Blair will be joinining them as well. With senior co-captain Nick Huber already qualified in the decathlon, Cornell will have four athletes vying for a national title in two weeks.