Columbia
NCAA East Preliminary Round
Tanner Qualifies for NCAA Track & Field Finals
5/29/2016 11:38:00 AM | Track and Field
Final Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Junior Natalie Tanner will advance to the NCAA Track & Field Finals in Eugene, Oregon, after a ninth place finish in the 5,000m run during the NCAA East Prelims.
A total of 12 competitors in the field of 48 runners move on to the next round in the event, as Tanner was less than four seconds away from the first place runner in a career best 16:12.04. The run for the Rye, New York, native was the third best outdoor 5,000m time in Columbia history, and was almost 12 seconds better than her previous best of 16:23.91.
Tanner will be the only Columbia athlete to compete in Eugene, after the 14 Lions that qualified for the East Prelims fought hard to put up some of best times of their career.
Full Women's Results
400m - Akua Obeng-Akrofi advanced to the quarterfinal round after a career best 53.14 in the first round on Thursday. The sophomore ended up finishing 21st with a 53.65 during the quarterfinals.
800m - Sarah Hardie posted a career best 2:07.28 in the first round to qualify for the quarterfinals. A 2:07.45 in the following round gave her the 19th best time in the event. Brittney Wade also competed in the 800m run, but was unable to eclipse her school record time from earlier in the season with a 2:07.71 for the 32nd best time in the first round.
1,500m - Olivia Sadler clocked a 4:22.72 to advance to the quarterfinals in the event, where she just missed a chance at Eugene in 15th place at 4:23.09. Rookie Libby Kokes also participated in the 1500m run, taking 30th in 4:26.41 during the first round.
3,000m Steeplechase - Erin Melly took 41st in the event at 10:48.73.
5,000m - Natalie Tanner will advance to Eugene after a ninth place finish in 16:12.04. Henna Rustami also took part in the event, taking 25th in 16:51.70.
10,000m - Pegah Khosravi-Kamrani claimed 32nd in the event at 35:38.00.
Triple Jump - Anna Williams leaped out to 12.73m to take 25th.
Full Men's Results
800m - Alek Sauer came away with the 11th best time in the first round in a personal best 1:48.82. He followed that up with a 1:51.02 in the quarterfinals, which was the 21st best time.
1,500m - Robert Napolitano went 3:46.97 to advance to the quarterfinals with the 15th best time in the first round. The junior stayed in the same slot, narrowly missing a shot at Eugene in 3:47.10.
10,000m - Tait Rutherford finished in 20th place at 30:24.34, while Jack Boyle claimed 40th in 31:17.70.
Players Mentioned
