COLLEGE STATION, Texas (May 27, 2021) - Day two of the west regional preliminary meet was highlighted by junior Jessa Hanson punching her ticket to the national meet.
Lumberjack women Hanson and senior Jeralyn Poe entered the 10000-meter race with gusto and settled into the front pack for much of the race. After running together for almost the entirety of the race, the two began to shift apart after approaching the 8000-meter mark.Â
With 2000-meters left in the race Hanson was holding strong in 15th place while Poe was right beside her in 16th. Coming into the final laps on the track, the two were pushing themselves to their limits.Â
Hanson kicked it into high gear in her bell lap, splitting her fast time of the night, 18:00.00, and finishing in 12th with a personal best time of 33:56.97 to secure a slot at nationals.
Poe crossed the line behind Hanson in 14th with a time of 34:14.64, just missing the qualifying mark.Â
Junior
Bryn Morley ran the women's 1500 meter race, finishing with a time of 4:27.59, placing her 27th overall in the West Region.Â
Later, the 800 meter race was run by junior
Melanie Loff and freshman
Maggi Congdon; Loff finished with a time of 2:06.63, placing first in her heat and qualifying for quarter finals on Saturday, while Cogdon ran a time of 2:07.47 in the last heat of the day.
In the field, freshmen
Alaina Diggs and
Eniko Sara competed in the women's javelin and shot put; Sara threw 45.35 meters finishing her first NAU season ranked 19th in the region, while Diggs threw 13.65 meters to end her season in 46th place.Â
All 11 Lumberjack women who are competing at the West Regional meet for the very first time.Â
Tomorrow, the men will return to the meet, beginning with the men's discus at 11:30 a.m MST/1:30 p.m CDT, and taking the track at 3:45 p.m. MST/5:45 p.m. CDT for the men's 1500 meter race.Â
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