Curtis HS grad Andrea Geubelle gets the NCAA jumps double...


FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--One night after winning the long jump, Curtis HS graduate Andrea Geubelle (above/photo courtesy University of Kansas) of the University of Kansas successfully defended her NCAA title in the triple jump Saturday at the NCAA Division I championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Geubelle, a resident of University Place just outside of Tacoma, opened the competition with a jump of 43-5 3/4 (13.25m), then after a foul, improved to 45-6 1/2 (13.88m).

The fourth round was the one that sealed the fate, as she stretched the tape all the way out to the eventual winning mark of 46-6 1/4 (14.18m), then came close to it in the penultimate round, jumping 46-3 1/2 (14.11m).

Geubelle finished her day with a jump of 45-3 3/4 (13.81m).

Andrea's winning mark was just two centimeters short of the IAAF B standard for this summer's world championships in Moscow.  With the win, she became the fourth woman in NCAA indoor championship history to emerge victorious in both the long and triple jumps in the same meet.

Even with Geubelle's two wins, the Jayhawks did not score enough points, as Oregon won the national indoor title, scoring 56 points, and earning their only victory in the 4 x 400 relay.  

The Ducks ran 3:30.32, while the Jayhawks were eighth in 3:34.91, after being behind by only three points entering the final event to get their second straight runner-up finish with 44 points.

Bellingham's Becca Friday earned a sixth place finish in the mile, running 4:39.23, earning the Ducks three points towards the national title, as US Olympian Emma Coburn of Colorado won in 4:29.91.

The only other woman with Washington connections, Wenatchee's Hannah Kiser of the University of Idaho, finished fifth in the 3000 meters, running a time of 9:07.76, as Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino won in a time of 9:01.08.

In the men's championship meet, Oregon's Michael Berry, the Rainier Beach HS grad, set another indoor personal best in the 400 as he won his section in a time of 45.83, overtaking Arkansas' Anton Kokorin in the backstretch of the final lap.

Houston's Errol Nolan took the overall title, winning his section in a time of 45.75.

Washington's Jeremy Taiwo, the collegiate leader in the heptathlon, finished 15th in the high jump, clearing 7-0 1/2 (2.15m).

Olympic bronze medalist Derek Drouin of Canada and Indiana University won in a facility record 7-8 1/2 (2.35m).


SEATTLE PACIFIC'S MC KAYLA FRICKER FOURTH IN 800 AT NCAA D2s...

At the NCAA Division II championships in Birmingham, Alabama, McKayla Fricker of Seattle Pacific finished a surprising fourth in the 800 meter run, running yet another personal best.

Starting out in eighth after the first of four laps around the Birmingham CrossPlex, she steadily worked her way through the field, moving up one place per lap, picking off runners on the final lap en route to a final time of 2:10.76, just under her indoor PR of 2:10.82, set Friday night in the semifinals.

In analyzing the splits, Fricker, the junior from Camby, Oregon, ran even splits, with all four laps in the 32 second range.

Helen Crofts of Simon Fraser took the national title in a time of 2:05.96.

A few hours later, Fricker anchored the Falcons to a sixth place finish in the 4 x 400 meter relay, as the team of Kishia Mitchell, Emily Quatier, Jasmine Johnson, and Fricker ran 3:46.34, giving Seattle Pacific three points, as Lincoln of Missouri won the race in a time of 3:40.07.

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