Three Ducks Score NCAA Provisional Qualifying Marks in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Three of
“Today was a really positive day for us,” said Associate Head Coach Dan Steele. “The most important thing was getting acclimated to the 200 meter banked track.”
Three Duck men recorded personal bests in the 400 meter preliminaries Friday. Kaizer, Ore. Phil Alexander finished in seventh place and eclipsed the NCAA provisional standard with a time of 46.96. The senior will compete in Saturday’s 400 meter finals.
Sophomore Chad Barlow also earned an NCAA provisional mark of 47.24, finishing 11th out of 90 entrants and just four one-hundredths of a second from qualifying for the finals.
“Both of those guys ran exceptionally well considering there were no starting blocks,” said Coach Steele. “It’s incredible that they were able to pull it off.”
Senior Marcus Dillon’s time of 47.79 was good for 26th place and a personal best.
Also on the women’s side, freshman Mandy White broke her own
Senior Irie Searcy ran a season-best 57.01 in the 400 meters. Also competing Friday, freshman Amy Skofstad was unable to record a mark in the long jump.
In other men’s action, sophomore Ashton Eaton placed 16th in the championship section of the long jump, falling short of his season best by only three-quarters of an inch with a mark of 7.20m (23-7.5).
Besides Alexander in the 400 meter finals, three Ducks will compete in individual events Saturday. Searcy and White return to the track for the 200 meter dash, while Youngblood is set to participate in Saturday’s triple jump competition.
The Ducks will also compete in both the men’s and women’s 4x400 meter relays in the second day of competition.
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