Action hot at Willamette Distance Carnival
April 6, 2007
SALEM, Oregon - Beautiful spring weather set the stage for hot performances at last nights Willamette University Distance Carnival. Around 40 colleges and club teams were represented, creating deep and talented fields in each event.
The entrants in the 10,000 meter race would have preferred the ideal temperatures that came later in the evening. Running a race of that length in high 70 degree weather was something most of the field had not yet adapted to this early in the season. By the halfway mark, most runners were visibly suffering and slowing due to the heat. In the women's race, Diann Leo ran a gutsy race to finish in 9th place for the Geoducks. Her time was a minute slower than her seasons best, which was the norm for the entrants. In the men's race Jason McConnell, only two weeks away from his wedding day, managed to post a time (34:47.08/21st place) two ticks slower than his personal best and is showing that his marathon preparation for the NAIA Championships is going well. James Hudson also ran in the 10,000, his first for the year, and had a rough time with the heat to finish well off of his personal best set at this meet last year.
Kelsey Blair and Emily Uhlig have established themselves as two strong conference competitors in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Both running the event for the first time this season, Blair saw her school record lowered by Uhlig by the end of the grueling race. Uhlig finished 15th overall in a time of 12:19.17 to lower the record by 17 seconds. It was Uhligs second best time in the event, having run 12:07 at the end of last season when she was attending Central WA University. Blair posted her third best time in the event and finished 17th overall.
In the shortest race of the night, Miguel Pineda ran his second fastest time in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:09.28. The race had five sections, with 73 competitors total. Pineda finished 35th in the combined results.
The women's 5000 meters featured two heats totalling 55 finishers. Evergreen's Kelly Beckham, competing in the first heat, shattered the previous school record by nearly a minute with her time of 19:00.20. Rachel Williams held the previous record of 19:55. Beckham's time also knocked 27 seconds off the school best of 19:27 set by Josie Edwards in '94 when T & F was a club sport. Beckham moved steadily up through the field, passing a half dozen runners in the last 800 meters, to finish 6th in her heat and 30th overall.
Brian Rakestraw and Eric Jones competed in the first heat of three in the men's 5000 meters and posted the 2nd and 4th fastest times ever for Evergreen runners in that event. Rakestraw did his share of leading, following the pace setter for the first 2000 meters and then challenging at the front for the remainder of race. Finishing third in his heat and 45th overall, Rakestraws time of 15:46.44 established his personal best in his first go at that distance on the track. Jones ran strong as well, finishing 12th in the heat and also setting a personal best.
Evergreen Track and Field will be at Central Washington University next Saturday for the Spike Arlt Invitational.