Evans Kurui of WSU misses podium place in 5000 meters at NCAAs...
EUGENE--It was a light night for athletes with Washington ties on the final day of the men's competition at the NCAA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Washington State's Evans Kurui (Paul Merca photo) capped off a busy two days of competition by finishing ninth in the 5000 meters.
After placing sixth in the 10000 Wednesday night, the Cougar was looking for a second top eight finish.
After a slow start, Kurui worked his way to the cusp of another top eight finish, but could not quite seal the deal, crossing the line in 13:51.49, almost three seconds out of the final scoring position.
New Mexico's Habtom Samuel unleashed a 55 second final 400 to win the 5000/10000 double, emerging victorious in 13:38.93.
In the 1500, Washington's Reuben Reina was in the top three entering the bell lap in an honestly paced race, but could not hold his position, dropping all the way to eleventh.
Despite running a 55 second final 400, Oregon's Simeon Birnbaum dropped a 52.08 final 400, as the collegiate record holder won in 3:36.05, while Reina finished in 3:39.15.
Former WSU Cougar Mason Lawyer, now running for Arizona, finished seventh in the 100 in 10.04, and ninth in the 200 in 20.34
Bellingham native Andre Korbmacher, running for Florida State, finished seventh in the 110 hurdles, running 13.30.
Former WSU sprinter Louie Hinchliffe of Houston's squad never crossed the finish line in the 4 x 100 meter relay as they had a bad exchange.
On the field, Eastern Washington's Cort Gebbers (Paul Merca photo) , who entered the meet ranked 90th nationally, finished 19th in the discus with a personal best throw of 188-8 (57.52m). Former WSU thrower Kai Twaddle-Dunham was 23rd at 182-0 (55.48m).
Arkansas emerged as the national champions scoring 56 points, followed by Georgia at 49, Tennessee at 46, and LSU with 42 points. Washington State was the only one of the three Washington schools who had athletes entered to score, with 3 points.
HEPTATHLON UNDERWAY FRIDAY...
Puyallup native JaiCieonna Gero-Holt (Paul Merca photo) of Illinois is the first day leader in the heptathlon with a four-event score of 3745 points, while Washington's Sofia Cosculluela, who is a stronger second day performer, stands fifth at 3574 points.
Gero-Holt ran 13.80 in the 100 hurdles, high jumped 5-11.25 (1.81m), threw the shot 49-1.75 (14.98m), and ran 25.00 in the 200.
Cosculluela's marks Thursday included 13.46 in the 100 hurdles, 5-6.5 (1.69m) in the high jump, 41-5.75 (12.64m) in the shot, and 24.09 in the 200.
Based on a combination of today's marks and previous bests, Cosculluela is projected to finish with a score of 6100, while Gero-Holt will get close to 6000 at 5984 points.
The final day of the NCAA championships, which is entirely women's events, gets underway at 11:30 with the discus.
The heptathlon resumes at 2:30 pm with the long jump, followed by the javelin, and ends with the 800.
Track action starts just after 5 pm with the 4 x 100 relay. The first event involving Washington athletes is at 5:12 as Washington State's Rosemary Longisa, the top seed in the event, goes in the 1500.
Among those she'll face is former Husky Wilma Nielsen, the reigning NCAA indoor mile champion, competing for Oregon.
Carnation native Braelyn Baker goes in the finals of the 400 at 6:02 pm. She returns to conclude the meet at 7:21 pm with her Duke teammates in the 4 x 400 relay.
Washington's Chloe Thomas and Julia David-Smith, along with Gonzaga's Rosina Machu, run in the finals of the 5000 meters at 6:55 pm.
Thanks to the 1-2 finish by Amanda and Hana Moll in the pole vault, the Huskies go into the final day of competition in first with 18 points.
Day 3 of the meet will be televised (running events) on ESPN2 starting at 5 pm Pacific time. ESPN+ ($) will offer a dedicated feed for the field events.
NOTE: The NCAA, the sports information offices of Washington, Washington State, and Eastern Washington, contributed to this report.
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