Columbia
NCAA Outdoor Championships - Preliminary Round
Eke Qualifies For The NCAA Track & Field Championships Final Round
5/30/2015 8:43:00 PM | Track and Field
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - At the 2015 NCAA Track & Field East Prelims, Columbia senior Nadia Eke claimed third place in the triple jump to advance to Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA Championships Final Round.
Eke was one of 12 Lions to compete in Jacksonville, Florida at the East Prelims, and one of three to take part in Saturday events. The Accra, Ghana, native went 13.10m (42'11.75") to be the third of 12 athletes from the East Region to qualify for Eugene. Kenturah Orji of Georgia took first place in 13.38m (43'10.75") while Auburn's Marshay Ryan claimed second in 13.35m (43'9.75").
The senior will hope to repeat a career-best third place performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this spring, when Eke earned her third career All-American performance. The final round in Eugene will take place June 10-13.
Robert Napolitano also competed on the final day of the East Prelims, as one of 24 runners to take part in the quarterfinal round of the 1500m run. After coming into the day with the fifth fastest time ran in Thursday's first round at 3:45.38, the sophomore could not duplicate what was close to a career best performance. Napolitano took 22nd in the quarterfinal round when he crossed the line in 3:49.13 today.
The final athlete to compete at the East Prelims was senior Aryn Foland, in the women's 5K. In her last collegiate race, the senior clocked a 17:12.32 for 45th.
Friday featured action from one female athlete and two representatives from the men's team.
Ashley Cunningham, who took second in both the 100m dash and 200m dash at the Ivy League Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, qualified for the East Prelims in the 200m dash. On Friday, the junior matched her time at Heps with a 24.10, taking 42nd place.
In the men's 3K Steeplechase, Aubrey Myjer and Casey Adams both were able to compete in the event. Myjer bested Adams in Jacksonville, taking 28th in 8:58.84, while Adams clocked a 9:21.04 for 45th.
Aside from Napolitano's first round 1500m run on Thursday, six Columbia athletes competed in the opening day of the meet.
In the men's 10K run, Tait Rutherford narrowly missed his chance at advancing to Eugene during a race that featured all 47 runners that qualified. Rutherford came in 21st place at 30:43.53, which was just off the pace of the top-12 finishers. Dan Lennon of Syracuse grabbed the last qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships at 30:09.95, while Purdue's Matt McClintock won the race in 29:47.98. Columbia senior Ben Eversole can claim his last collegiate race came at the East Prelim, clocking a 31:12.72 for 35th in the event.
Two more seniors from the men's team ran in their final collegiate races during the first round of the 800m run in Brendon Fish and Connor Claflin. In heat six, Fish took seventh place at 1:49.64 for the 35th best time among the eight heats, while Claflin clocked a 1:50.22 in heat four for the 39th fastest time.
The pair watched a sophomore on the women's side also run two laps, when Brittney Wade took part in the women's 800m run. In her first career trip to the NCAA East Prelims, Wade went 2:08.55 for the 41st fastest time on the day.
Also competing for the women on day one was Olivia Sadler, who entered the competition with the 12th fastest time in the 1500m run in the region. The junior missed a chance at Sunday's quarterfinal when she took seventh in her heat in 4:26.11.
Players Mentioned
