June 10, 2005
Sacramento, Calif. – Senior Kerry Meagher advanced to the final of the women’s 1,500 meter run with a career-best performance Thursday evening as the Notre Dame track and field team continued action at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Sacramento, Calif.
Running in the second of two qualifying heats for the 1,500, Meagher placed seventh in her heat with a time of four minutes, 16.37 seconds for the 11th-fastest of the 12 qualifiers to the final slated to take place Saturday at 6:30 p.m. PST (8:30 p.m. South Bend time). Meagher’s time was a personal best and an improvement of more than six seconds over her previous 2005 seasonal best performance (4:22.83 set at the Mt. SAC Relays in March). Meagher’s previous career best outing in the event was a 4:16.88 clocking at the 2004 Georgia Tech Invitational.
In other action for the Irish, senior Emily Loomis and junior Stacey Cowan competed in the women’s high jump. Loomis cleared 1.77 meters (five feet, 9 ¾ inches) but did not qualify for a spot in Saturday’s final. Cowan cleared 1.70 meters (5-7) and also did not advance.
In the women’s 200-meter dash, sophomore Maryann Erigha did not run after suffering a flare-up of a foot injury during Wednesday’s heats of the 100 meters. Erigha was greatly hindered during the 100, failing to advance past the first round in uncharacteristic fashion, and chose to skip the 200 after pain persisted.
Two athletes – Kaleb Van Ort and Lauren King – competed in the men’s and women’s 10,000 meter finals late Thursday night. In the men’s 10,000, Van Ort placed 13th in a time of 29:19.74. In the women’s 10,000, King was 12th in 33:56.95.
The Irish have only one athlete competing on Friday as hurdler Selim Nurudeen will run in the final of the men’s 110-meter high hurdles. That race is slated to take place at 7:55 p.m. PST (9:55 p.m. South Bend time).