ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The highly-anticipated three-day NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships began Thursday, May 25 at St. John Fischer in Rochester, N.Y. The opening day saw two athletes claim All-American honors to highlight the Bears' efforts.
Senior Kiera Olson earned a personal-best time of 35:03.42 in the 10,000m to welcome a spot on the All-American team as she secured a seventh-place finish. In the process, Olson smashed the WashU 10,000m record by almost 10 seconds to claim the fastest-time in Bear history. Senior Ella Behrens crossed the finish line with a time of 35:41.98, to secure a14th-place finish.
Both of the women's relays qualified for Saturday's final. The 4x100 relay squad of senior Mycah Clay, sophomore Nicole Stewart, senior Lauren Hamilton, and sophomore Lauren Gay notched a third-place finish in the preliminary round. The team turned in a season-best time of 46.24 and was one of seven institutions to break the facility record. Additionally, the impressive mark now ranks second in the WashU all-time top-10 rankings.
The 4x400 relay team of graduate Sophie Fox, graduate Danielle Schultz, first-year Kylie Spytek, and junior Emma Kelley completed the relay in 3:46.77 warranting a fourth-place finish in the preliminary round. The mark now sits seventh in the WashU top-10 record book.
In the 1,500m preliminary, senior Emily Konkus placed sixth, to qualify for the final round on Saturday. Konkus crossed the finish line with a time of 4:29.90. Also in the 1,500m race, senior Aoife Dunne secured a lane in Saturday's final with her mark of 4:30.45, which earned the senior 10th in the preliminary round.
Junior Ebun Opata placed eighth in the long jump as she finished with a mark of 5.74m to earn All-America honors.
Gay and Stewart went back-to-back in the 200m preliminary with 13th and 14th, respectively, as the pair just missed qualifying for the final round. Gay finished just ahead of Stewart with a time of 24.934, while Stewart notched a mark of 24.940.
Sophomore Julia Patterson registered 14th in the 3,000m steeplechase as she crossed the finished line with a time of 10:57.25.
With half of the men's decathlon events in the books, sophomore Loucas Xenakis sits in 16th with 3,366 points. The sophomore sprung for sixth in the long jump with a mark of 6.79m, which earned Xenakis a personal-best mark in the event. Xenakis tied for seventh in the high jump with his clearance of the 1.84m bar. He finished 17th in the shot put with a heave of 11.01m, 19th in the 400m (52.56), and took 20th in the 100m dash (11.78).
WashU will turn to day two of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, tomorrow, Friday, May 26. Action is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. ET.
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The WashU Golf Scramble will be held at the Meadowbrook Country Club in Ballwin, Mo. on June 12. Participation in the WashU Golf Scramble empowers the Department of Athletics to be one of the nation's leading Division III athletics' programs and directly impacts the student-athlete experience. Visit the 2023 Golf Scramble page to register to play or view scholarship opportunities.
