PUEBLO, Colo. – With temperatures soaring into the 90s on Saturday, Joey Walls finished 11th in a race dictated by the heat in the finals of the men's 1500 meter run at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Walls ran 4:20.24 nearly 16 seconds slower than his qualifying time on Thursday night when temps were about 20 degrees cooler. Andrew Graham of Adams State won the individual title with a time of 4:13.98 as just seven seconds separated first through 11th in the race.
Friday Recap
PUEBLO, Colo. – In her final collegiate jump, Jennifer Zweifel did what she has done so many times during her Bulldog career, break a school record. Zweifel took third in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships to pick up her sixth all-America honors.
The senior got into the finals with her first jump of 12.36 meters while the first and second place jumpers also notched what would be their winning jumps in round one.
Zweifel saved her best for last as she broke her own school record by going 42-02.00 in the final attempt. Her previous best was 41-05.00 earlier this month at the conference championships. Kearah Danville of New Mexico Highlands won the championship with a mark of 43-03.75 followed by Amanda Ouedraogo from Abilene Christian at 42-08.25.
Thursday Recap
PUEBLO, Colo. – Joey Walls will advance to the finals of the 1500 meter run and Jennifer Zweifel picked up her fifth all-America honor with a sixth place finish in the long jump. Zweifel will compete on Friday in the triple jump.
Walls ran 4:04.19 to grab the final qualifying spot in Saturday's national championship race in the 1500 meter run. Just five seconds separate the top 12 runners in the race with Mack McLain of Colorado Mines posting the fastest time of 3:58.35. The Bulldog senior ran a personal best 3:49.34 earlier this year in the 1500. The finals will be run at 6:45 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday.
Zweifel's best jump was in round two as she leaped 19-04.75 to advance to the finals of the long jump. That mark would be her final total as she placed sixth in the event. Zweifel was one of four competitors from the MIAA to finish in the top six with Lincoln's Nickeisha Beaumont winning the event with a mark of 20-04.25. Central Missouri's tandem of Erin Alewine (third) and Lindsay Lettow (fifth) gave the conference a strong showing in the event.
Preview Story
INDIANAPOLIS – Seniors Jennifer Zweifel and Joey Walls will represent Truman State University at next week's NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championship hosted by Colorado State University at Pueblo. Zweifel will compete in the long and triple jumps while Walls will race in the men's 1500 meter run.
Zweifel (Maryville, Mo., Maryville) is competing in her fifth straight national meet as she had earned automatic qualification marks in both the long and triple jumps. She is seeded fourth in both events having jumped 20-02.25 in the long jump and 41-05.00 in the triple, both school records at the 2012 MIAA Championships. Zweifel finished ninth in the 2010 triple jump and sixth, to earn all-America honors, in the 2011 outdoor championships.
She also placed 11th at the outdoor long jump last season. Zweifel was sixth in the 2011 indoor long jump and finished third in the long and fourth in the triple in March at the 2012 Indoor championships.
In the long jump, which will be contested on Thursday (May 24) at 6:45 p.m. (MDT), there are 19 competitors with six coming from the MIAA. Lincoln's Nickeisha Beaumont has the top mark this season with a jump of 20-11.25 coming in the MIAA Championships.
The triple jump will take place on Friday (May 25) at 5:15 p.m. (MDT). It will also have a field of 19 competitors, three from the MIAA. Amanda Ouedraogo from Abilene Christian (Texas) won the indoor championship and has the top mark in the outdoor season at 43-03.25.
Walls (Columbia, Mo., Hickman) ran 3:49.34 at the Jim Duncan Invitational in April to earn his first trip to the outdoor national championship meet. He is the 16th seed in the race and is the only entrant from the MIAA. A pair of Adams State (Colo.) runners sits atop the heat sheet with senior Andrew Graham the favorite with a time this season of 3:40.95. The prelims of the 1500 will take place on Thursday at 5:25 p.m. (MDT) with the finals on Saturday at 5:45 p.m. (MDT).
