Jane Hedengren and Jenna Hutchins advanced to the NCAA Championships after placing first and eighth, respectively, in the 10,000-meter semifinal at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 28 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Hedengren set a new facility record with a time of 31:27.30, leading most of the race before regaining her lead from New Mexico’s Pamela Kosgei on the final lap. Hutchins finished with a time of 32:30.50. This marks the first time since 2001 that two Cougars have earned spots in the 10,000-meter event at the NCAA Championships.
Kali McEuen and Zoey Bonds moved forward to Saturday’s quarterfinals in the 100-meter hurdles after recording times of 13.18 and 13.30 seconds to place eighth and fifteenth overall. McEuen secured an automatic qualifier by finishing second in her heat; Bonds advanced as one of the next best six finishers. Both will compete for a chance to reach the NCAA Championships.
McEuen also qualified for Saturday’s quarterfinals in the 400-meter hurdles after running a time of 57.34 seconds to finish third in her heat and fifteenth overall.
Paje Rasmussen automatically qualified for Saturday’s quarterfinals in both sprints by taking second place with an 11.37-second run in her heat for the 100 meters and later posting a time of 23.25 seconds to earn a spot in the quarterfinals for the 200 meters.
In distance events, Carmen Alder, Carlee Hansen-Thompson, and Zariel Macchia all advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal round of the women’s 1500 meters after finishing first, third, and sixteenth across four heats; Alder led with a time of 4:11.81 while Macchia closed her race with a strong final lap.
Tessa Buswell and Krystie Solomon-Jensen both earned automatic qualifiers into Saturday’s quarterfinals for the women’s 800 meters by clocking times of 2:03.38 (Solomon-Jensen) and 2:04.14 (Buswell), with Solomon-Jensen setting a personal record.
