WSU's Caicedo & De Mello finish 2-7 in 100 hurdles at NCAA championships...
EUGENE--Washington State's Maribel Caicedo (Paul Merca photo) and Micaela De Mello finished second and seventh in the finals of the women's 100 hurdles, as the curtain closed on the final day of the NCAA Division I track and field championships at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon Saturday.
Caicedo, who had the second fastest time in Thursday's qualifying at 12.52 behind Florida's Grace Stark, got a solid start, while Stark got a better start, leading through the first hurdle.
Caicedo had to play catch up, drawing even with USC's Jasmine Jones and Central Florida's Rayniah Jones, going over the eighth hurdle, with Caicedo getting second ove Rayniah Jones 12.59 to 12.59.
USC's Jasmine Jones ended up fourth in 12.64, but came back an hour later to win the 400 hurdles.
Reflecting on her race, Caicedo said, "It was a bit tough. (That said), it's great to be competing at this level, because two years ago, I didn't imagine even consider competing with people of this caliber."
After the NCAAs, she'll continue to train in Pullman, and possibly go to Europe to race before the Olympics, though she may return home to Ecuador.
For De Mello, who finished seventh, she was slightly disappointed in not getting the Olympic standard, but will have to race in the Brazilian championships later this month and get the mark of 12.77.
Woodinville native Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame, the defending national champion in the steeple, ran into a buzzsaw, as Alabama's Doris Lemngole set a collegiate and championship meet record, running 9:15.24.
Markezich set a personal best of 9:17.36, just over a half second off her previous best of 9:17.93, set at the USA nationals last year at Hayward Field.
Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State finished sixth in the 5000 in 15:26.18. Florida's Parker Valby won the second half of the 5000/10000 double, running 14:52.18, missing the Olympic standard by .18.
Washington's Sophie O'Sullivan had a rough go in the finals of the 1500 meters, finishing twelfth in 4:13.99.
Entering the last lap, she made a strong move to get back in contention, but expended too much energy from 1100 to 1300, fading badly entering the homestretch.
Harvard's Maia Ramsden successfully defended her NCAA crown, running 4:06.62.
Arkansas, boosted by a 1-2-3-4 finish in the 400, and a collegiate and meet record time of 3:17.96 in the 4 x 400 relay, took home the team title with 63 points, despite Florida leading by a 53-49 margin going into the relay.
Florida could only watch, as they didn't have an entry in the 4 x 400.
The Gators ended up second with 53 points.
Washington, which got all their points in the pole vault, finished 20th with 14.5 points, and Washington State finished 27th with 10 points, all in the 100 hurdles.
NOTE: The NCAA, and the sports information offices of Washington State, Washington, and Oregon contributed to this report.
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