Washington's Anita Campbell finishes third in NCAA 10000...

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--Washington's Anita Campbell (left/photo by Mike Scott) used a 76-second final lap to overtake West Virginia's Clara Grandt and finish third in the women's 10000 meter run at the NCAA track and field championships at John McDonnell Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Campbell, a native of Vancouver, BC, clocked 33:43.33, just short of her personal best of 33:40.22 to garner her first All-American certificate on the track and become Washington's highest ever finisher in this event, eclipsing Regina Joyce's fifth place finish in the 1983 championships.

Providence's Danette Doetzel won the women's 10000 with a time of 33:25.71, with Cecily Lemmon from BYU second in 33:39.97, and Grandt fourth in 33:45.16.

Former Eastern Washington University standout Mattie Bridgmon, now a graduate student at the University of Oregon, placed seventh in the race, earning All-America honors with a time of 34:18.20.

"I've wanted (track All-American honors) for a while now," said Campbell. "When I was hurt last year, Coach (Greg) Metcalf called me after the 10k and said, `You wouldn't have been any worse than second today.' So I kind of had it in my head for a whole year. I knew this was the year to run it. I'm open, my coach doesn't lie to me, so whatever he thinks is best I'll probably do all right at it. It's a growing process, learning how to run it and manage it all."

In other finals, Bellingham's Jake Riley, who attends Stanford University, earned All-America honors by placing eighth in the men's 10000, running 29:14.53. Washington's Jake Schmitt finished 22nd in 30:22.91.

The Huskies' Austin Abbott broke the 22-year-old school record in the 1,500-meter run in his semi-final race.

Running in the first of three semifinal heats, Abbott placed second in 3:39.63, which was the second-best time among all 27 prelim runners. That time eclipsed Bruce Stirling's 1987 school record of 3:39.89. Abbott had been shooting for that record for much of the year, and thought his best chance might have passed at the Mt. SAC Relays.

On the final lap, he picked off runners and kicked to the finish on the outside to finish just behind Wisconsin's Craig Miller. After seeing his time, Abbott raised his arms in triumph. Abbott's previous PR was 3:41.62 set in a win at the Stanford Invite
this season.

In Abbott's heat, former Auburn Riverside & UW runner Jordan McNamara, now competing for Oregon placed sixth in 3:42.09 to earn the final spot in Saturday's finals.

Former Nathan Hale HS runner Abdi Hassan, now competing for the University of Arizona, did not finish his heat of the men's 1500.

Former Shelton HS runner Andy McClary, running for Arkansas was sixth in his heat in 3:47.50 and didn't advance. Twin brother Alex was eighth in his semifinal heat of the men's 800, running 1:49.72, and didn't advance to Saturday's final.

Washington State's Jeshua Anderson clocked the fastest time in the semis of the 400 hurdles, running 49.27 seconds with his nearest rivals, Johnny Dutch from South Carolina and Justin Gaymon from Georgia, running times of 49.48 and 49.49, respectively. WSU senior Barry Leavitt ran a season-best time of 50.55 which was the 12th-best time in the semifinals where the top 9 advance to the Friday night final.

Cougar senior Justin Woods ran a 200m first round time of 21.04 seconds to advance to the semifinals. Just an hour and 20 minutes later, Woods ran a time of 21.23 in the semifinals, and didn't advance to the Saturday final.

WSU's Matt Lamb advanced to the final of the men's discus throw with a season-best toss of 192-feet, 11 inches (58.81m) the sixth-best throw of the day. Lamb, a two-time All-America, opened with a throw of 183-1 (55.81m) and then fouled his second attempt. Lamb stepped into the ring and threw a season-best on his third and final attempt to advance to Saturday's finals.

Washington freshman Christine Babcock advanced to the finals in the women's 1500, finishing fifth in her semifinal with a time of 4:16.10. Teammate Kailey Campbell was eighth in the same heat as Babcock, running 4:20.10, and did not advance.

Washington State's Lisa Egami met the same fate in her heat of the 1500, placing seventh in 4:23.15.

Several Huskies will be competing in finals on Friday, starting with Scott Roth and Jared O'Connor in the men's pole vault. Kyle Nielsen and Brooke Pighin will compete in javelin finals, and Mel Lawrence (steeplechase) and Katie Follett (5,000m) will go for All-American honors in the distances. Jordan Boase has another round of 400-meter dash qualifying to get through as well. All track events will be shown live tomorrow on CBS College Sports TV.

For Washington State, Friday finalists include javelin thrower Marissa Tschida, high jumper Trent Arrivey, and 400 hurdler Anderson will attempt to repeat as national champion.

2008 US Olympian Kara Patterson from Vancouver's Skyview HS looks to win her first NCAA title in the javelin against Tschida and Pighin.

Ellensburg native Jake Shanklin, who attended community college at Spokane CC, and now competes for Wyoming, gets things started in the men's hammer throw finals at 1 pm, local time.

CBS College Sports Network (cable channel formerly CSTV) will broadcast Friday, June 12 from 4 - 7 p.m. PT. The CBS network will broadcast Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. - Noon PT.

Live results are available here, and live streaming of the meet is available here.

Here's the time schedule of UW, WSU & Washington affiliated athletes competing on Friday (all times are Central Time Zone)

1:00 p.m. Men's Hammer Throw Final--Jake Shanklin (Wyoming)
3:45 p.m. Men's Pole Vault Final--Scott Roth, Jared O'Connor (both UW)
5:30 p.m. Women's Javelin Final - Marissa Tschida (WSU), Brooke Pighin (UW), Kara Patterson (Purdue)
6:25 p.m. Women's Steeplechase Final - Mel Lawrence (UW)
7:00 p.m. Men's High Jump Final - Trent Arrivey (WSU)
7:25 p.m. Men's 400m Dash Semi-Final - Jordan Boase (UW)
7:30 p.m. Men's Javelin Final--Kyle Nielsen (UW)
8:05 p.m. Men's 400m Hurdles Final - Jeshua Anderson (WSU)
8:15 p.m. Women's 5000m Final--Katie Follett (UW)