SACRAMENTO -- BYU Added two more All-Americans to its ever-growing list. Josh Rohatinsky finished eighth in the men's 10,000 meters and Whitney McDonald finished sixth in the women's 10,000 meters.
"We wanted to get the school record in the 10,000 meters because we thought that was also the best way to help her place best," BYU distance coach Patrick Shane said. "She hung in there very well and I am very proud of her. To go from 160th in Cross Country to sixth in her first NCAA National Championships ever is a great accomplishment. The record would have been nice but, we really wanted her to place well."
Decathlon
Justin Palmer opened the day in the 110 hurdles matching his season-best time of 14.89 seconds. He was running in the same heat as last year's decathlon winner, and finished just behind him in third place in the heat. His time earned him 863 points and moved him into 14th place after six events. Next in the discus, Palmer threw 129 feet on his first throw and 133 feet on his last throw. His second throw was his best at 134 feet 3 inches, which was the 11th best throw in the competition. He finished with 683 points in the discus and 5,223 points after seven events to move into 12th overall.
The pole vault was a difficult event for Palmer as he failed to clear at 13 feet 1.5 inches. He received 614 points for his jump and dropped to 18th overall. Palmer threw the javelin well. 180 feet 4 inches was his best throw, netting him 662 points and moving him up three spots to 15th. In the 1500 meters, Palmer ran a career-best 4:45.07 to receive 649 points and finish with 7,151 points and 14th place in the competition.
"I came in feeling really optimistic about the meet, but then yesterday I had a bad 100 meters, a lifetime low in the high jump," said Palmer. "It started to rain and then it poured, metaphorically. I had better marks at the Robison meet in every event. The good thing is that I am young and I have learned from this experience. I know I can compete with this field and I will do better next year, and I had a 13 second PR in the 1500 meters."
400-meter Hurdles
Jennifer Grossarth ran a 58.34 second 400-meter-hurdle race, missing the finals by one-hundredth of a second as an at-large selection. Grossarth will now look forward to the USA Outdoor Championships.
"I think I was more nervous for this race than any other race in the past," said Grossarth after the race. "I think that may have caused me not to run like I wanted to. I am prepared physically to do better than I did. I need to work on my mental preparation."
800 meters
Michelle Turner was in the second heat of the semifinals in the 800 meters. The group went out at a fast sub-60-second pace, and Turner was right with them. She never let the leaders get more than 10 yards away through 600 meters. She pushed hard for the finish and ended in a time of 2:07. 21. Turner did not make the finals for Saturday.
1500 meters
Heidi Magill got out to a fast start and led the first heat through the first three laps. The field was close behind and on the last three hundred meters. The field pushed up and runners got in front of her. Magill sprinted to the finish but missed the cut off for the finals.
10,000 meters
Rohatinsky went out in front but let up and took second place for a few laps. The pack ran 15:23 through 12 laps and Rohatinsky got boxed in the fifth place in the middle of a large pack. The pace picked up a little as Rohatinsky ran 21 laps in 25:52. As the pack started to thin out, and the leaders extended the lead Josh moved into the 8th place. He finished in 29:12.64 and is an All-American.
"I expected them to make a push, but I expected it sooner than that," said Rohatinsky. "My training these last couple of weeks has not been what I wanted it to be, because I had bronchitis. I tried to go with them, but it just wasn't in the tank."
The 10,000 meters was a tight race that wasn't decided by pure speed but more by strategy.
"It kind of played out how we thought it would," BYU men's distance coach Ed Eyestone said. "I thought it would be a tactical race and we thought Rupp wouldn't lead it until three laps to go. However, this time the extra gear Josh normally has wasn't there for him. I think that his bout with bronchitis affected that. Josh has been a great athlete and a great representative. This is the end of a chapter, but not the end of a career."
McDonald also noticed the slow pace and wanted to go faster because she wanted to break the record.
"We went out really slow, about 80 second-laps," McDonald said. "I knew I was not going to break the record, but I pushed on and I was glad I could go with them when the leaders picked it up. I did my best and I am happy to be an All-American."
The field stayed tight until they had 15 laps to go. The lead group of seven athletes separated themselves from the rest of the field by 30 meters. McDonald was holding strong to sixth place in that lead group. The gap widened with 13 laps to go after 16:12. With seven laps, 24:06, McDonald was in fifth and the leaders had opened a 100-yard gap. All-American Sally Kipyago pushed to finish first, while Whitney finished in 33:26.33 in sixth place; BYU track's newest All-American.