NCAA Wednesday night recap (finally over at 1:10 am central time)...

Washington State University had four competitors advance among the seven who competed Wednesday, the first day of the 2009 NCAA Div. I Track & Field Championships, while the Huskies of Washington advanced seven athletes.

Inclement weather that included rain and lightning at John McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, caused a weather delay that began at 5 p.m. Pacific Time with four field events qualifying rounds and six track races semifinals left to be contested. Competition resumed at 8:15 p.m. PT.

The final first round event held Wednesday night before the storm hit were the five heats of the men's 400m hurdles. Jeshua Anderson (above/photo by Mike Scott), the defending NCAA champion, won his heat and had the third-fastest time of the first round at 50.12 seconds. Barry Leavitt ran a season-best 50.55 seconds for second place in his heat to qualify automatically. Leavitt's time was the ninth-fastest overall.

Vancouver's Kara Patterson from Purdue, the current collegiate leader, led qualifying in the javelin with a toss of 179-7 (54.74m). Marissa Tschida threw the javelin 168-feet, 6 inches (51.36m), while Washington's Brooke Pighin threw 160-10 (49.03m) to advance to the finals as well.

Eastern Washington freshman Michelle Coombs only threw 142-6 (43.43m) and did not advance.

Two-time All-American high jumper Trent Arrivey (junior, Woodinville, Wash.) cleared both bars on his first attempt in the qualifying round Wednesday night. Arrivey managed the wet runway surface well and cleared 6-8 3/4 (2.05m) and 6-10 3/4 (2.10m).

After the three-hour rain delay, Washington's Jordan Boase finished second in his heat of the 400m, running 46.27. Jeff Gudaitis finished a distant sixth in his heat, running 1:19.71.

Washington's Mel Lawrence was third in her heat of the women's 3000 steeplechase, running 10:05.70.

In the men's pole vault, Scott Roth and Jared O'Connor advanced to Friday's final, each clearing 17-6.5 (5.35m). Washington's Andrea Peterson cleared 13-1.5 (4.00m) on her third attempt. However, misses on her first two tries proved to be the difference, as all vaulters who cleared 13-1.5 and advanced did so on their first try.

Here's a recap of how other UW, WSU & other Washingtonians fared Wednesday night:

Men's 100m Dash First Round - Justin Woods (WSU): 10.35, did not advance
Women's 400m Hurdles First Round - Lorraine King (WSU): 58.99, did not advance
Men's 3000m Steeplechase Semifinal - Sam Ahlbeck (WSU): 8:49.88, did not advance
4 x 100 Relay Men Semifinal--Jeff Gudaitis, Kenjamine Jackson , Randy Bacon, and Joe Turner (UW): Ran 40.49, did not advance
Javelin Men Qualifying--Kyle Nielsen (UW)--Threw 227-7/69.36m to advance to Friday's final
800m first round Alex McClary (Arkansas)/Shelton HS: ran 1:48.24 to advance to Thursday's semis.

Here's a list of UW, WSU & other Washington athletes competing Thursday (all times central time):

1:00 p.m. Men's Discus Qualifying - Matt Lamb (WSU)
5:50 p.m. Men's 110m Hurdles First Round - Robert Williams (WSU)
6:25 p.m. Men's 200m Dash First Round - Justin Woods (WSU)
7:00 p.m. Men's 400m Hurdles Semifinal - Jeshua Anderson & Barry Leavitt (WSU)
7:25 p.m. Men's 800m Semifinal: Alex McClary (Arkansas/Shelton HS)
7:45 p.m. Men's 200m Dash Semifinal - Justin Woods (WSU)
7:55 p.m. Women's 1500m Semifinal - Lisa Egami (WSU); Kailey Campbell, Christine Babcock (UW)
8:10 1500 Meters Men Semifinal--Austin Abbott (UW); Andy McClary (Arkansas/Shelton HS)
8:55 10,000 Meters Women Final--Anita Campbell (UW)
9:45 10,000 Meters Men Final--Jake Schmitt (UW)