01.06.2009

Six Australians qualify for NCAA Championships

Reigning Zatopek champion David McNeill has led a host of Australians home in NCAA regional qualifying meets across the US at the weekend.

Joining McNeill in the action were Aussie young guns Zoe Buckman, Ben Ashkettle, James Gurr, Ross Ridgewell, Ryan Foster, Matthew Gibney, Genevieve Lacaze, Anneli Uys and Rachel Birtles, out in force in a bid to shore up their places in the NCAA Championships to be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in 10 days’ time.

Lining up in the 5000m for Northern Arizona in the West regional meet, McNeill was first to face the music on a big weekend of track and field action.

The 22-year-old Victorian entered the race at historic Hayward Field, Oregon, with one of the fastest 5km times of any collegian this year and a berth at the world championships in Berlin in August already stitched up.

With hopes of a start in Arkansas on the line, McNeill needed only to finish in the top five places to secure a spot at the Fayetteville championships and was not about to let the chance slip by.

After taking an early lead in the race McNeill led the pack through the middle lap to pass through 4km in 11:48.00 before another former Zatopek winner, Oregon senior Galen Rupp, took over to cross the line three seconds ahead of McNeill (13:49.77) in a winning time of 13:46.41.

McNeill’s Northern Arizona teammate and countryman Ben Ashkettle placed 15th in the event on the back of an impressive season that saw the sophomore run personal best times in both the 5000m (indoors and outdoors) and 10,000m.

As the highest place-getter from last year’s 5km returning for a second tilt at the NCAA Championships McNeill will certainly be in with a chance of taking a highly coveted NCAA title in Fayetteville this month.

Also in action at Hayward Field was University of Oregon runner Zoe Buckman, who won her 800m heat on day one of the meet and took to the final on day two needing to beat only three girls to qualify for her second national titles after her seventh-placing in 2008.

In a repeat performance of last year’s result, Buckman again crossed the line in second place in 2:06.44 and securing her berth at Fayetteville.
 
Moving across the country, the East regional meet saw the most number of Australians in action. Three Aussies contested the heats of the 800m with James Gurr (Seton Hall) placing second in his heat in 1.49.89, Ross Ridgewell (University of Georgia) running a season best 1:49.66 and Ryan Foster (Penn State) qualifying as fastest non-automatic qualifier for the final.

With a berth in the national finals on the line, Foster turned on the burners to book his ticket to Fayetteville, making several passes in the final steps to finish fourth overall in 1:49.70. Running just outside the top five with less than 150m to go, Foster turned on the jets and sprinted up the inside to earn his first individual trip to the NCAA Championships.

The 1500m saw Mathew Gibney line up for Villanova University on the back of a personal best in that event earlier this season and his anchoring of the team Villanova win at the biggest meet on the college stage, the Penn Relays.

After winning his heat to qualify for the final, it was all on the line for Gibney who put in a blazing 3:41.71 to finish second in a new personal best time for the sophomore from Albury.

With regional qualifying times in the 1500m, 3000m steeplechase and 5000m to her name Genevieve Lacaze, a freshman at the University of Florida and the South-East Conference Female Freshman of the Year in both track and field and cross country lined up in a bid to qualify for the 5000m.

Finishing outside her personal best time of 16:13, a time that would have seen her progress to Fayetteville, Lacaze remains an outside chance of an at-large bid with her personal best time from earlier this season placing her 20th on the season-best list.

Elsewhere, the Mid-West meet saw Anneli Uys place fifth in her 1500m heat in 4:31.78 and progress through to the final, finishing eleventh in a time of 4.35.48.

In the field Rachel Birtles cleared 3.66m in the women’s pole vault to tie for 15th, well below her season best of 3.93m.

The four Australians to have gained qualification to the national titles at the weekend – David McNeill, Zoe Buckman, Ryan Foster and Matthew Gibney – will join Shawn Forrest (University of Arkansas) and Megan Wheatley (University of Nebraska) at Fayetteville from June 10.

Lining up in the 10,000m Forrest will be looking to put in a stellar performance at his home track while Wheatley takes a new personal best of 5,800 points into the meet and enters the titles ranked fourth.

With thanks to Tom O'Shaughnessy.