Four Athletes Advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
MAAC Sports
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.- Four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference student-athletes advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The four students to advance are Iona College’s Kate Avery and Rosie Clarke, Monmouth University’s Dylan Capwell and Rider University’s Emily Ritter.
Avery ran the second fastest time in the 5,000-meter semifinal, clocking a 15:45.59. She was five seconds behind Providence senior Emily Sisson. It was Avery's second fastest time of the season in the 5k event following her NCAA qualifying time at the Stanford Invitational, an Iona record 15:25.63. She now holds the top five fastest times in the event in school history.
Clarke made a late move to secure top honors in the second heat of the 1,500-meter quarterfinal. Her time of 4:17.32 was .27 faster than Michigan junior Shannon Osika. It was also her second fastest time of the season, behind her school record and NCAA qualifying time of 4:12.10 at the Virginia Challenge.
Monmouth sophomore Dylan Capwell raced to a 1:47.20 to win his heat and advance to the NCAA Finals in Oregon in the 800 for the second straight year. Running in the second of three heats, Capwell took the lead just before hitting 400 meters in 52.5 seconds, then held off all challengers in the second lap.
Ritter placed second in her heat and seventh overall out of 47 runners with the top three runners in each of three heats and the next three top times advancing to the NCAA Championships. Ritter recorded a time of 9:54.34 in the 3,000 meter steeplechase on Friday evening in Jacksonville, Florida at the NCAA East Regional.
The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held in Eugene, Oregon on June 10-13 on the campus of University of Oregon.