FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Junior Andrea Harrison and freshman Shea Martinez punched their tickets to the NCAA Championship Friday night in the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships - West Preliminary.
“I am very happy for Shea and Andrea,” BYU head coach Ed Eyestone said. “They did a masterful job and battled hard. Shea ran like a veteran rather than a freshman and qualified on her time. Andrea ran a smart race and paced it perfectly to get the automatic qualifier.”
After setting a personal record on Thursday, Martinez finished fourth in her heat and 10th overall posting a time of 2:06.13 in the 800 meter.
Harrison came in seeded No. 8 in the steeplechase and held true to form finishing eighth with a time of 10:10.759, only .003 seconds behind seventh place.
They join Chase Dalton, Joshua Weirich, Jason Witt and Kyle Baker as BYU athletes to qualify for the NCAA championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Senior Curtis Carr who entered as a favorite for the men’s steeplechase led for most of his heat, but hit his knee on a barrier and was not able to finish the race at full strength.
Freshman Mark Carlson set a new personal best with a 50.98 in the 400-meter hurdles finishing 14th, just two spots out of a qualifying time.
On the women’s side, BYU has athletes competing in the high jump and hammer throw Saturday. The men will compete for top-12 spots in the 5,000-meter race, the 4x400-meter relay, the discus throw and the triple jump. Live stats and a schedule of events can be found at the NCAA.com.