Nia Akins Qualifies for 800 Meter Final
Caroline Alcorta Finishes 5th in the 10,000 Meters
Thursday is the day for women’s qualifying and finals at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas. Participants from the University of Pennsylvania and Villanova competed, and let’s look at the results.
Nia Akins ran a personal best time of 2:02.88 in the 800 meters and had the best qualifying time. The Penn junior will run in the final on Saturday.
Villanova senior Caroline Alcorta placed 5th in a grueling 10,000 Meter event in warm, humid conditions. Alcorta stayed within the top ten places for the entire run. She moved up to fifth place crossing the finish line in 33:20.70 just missing fourth place by 2 one-hundreds of a second. Weini Kelati of New Mexico won the race holding off a charge by Oregon’s Carmela Cardana Baez pulling away in the final 50 meters. Kelati ran a 33:10.84. Baez turned a time of 33:11.56. Alcorta will run in the 5000 Meters final on Saturday.
Akins teammate Uchechi Nwogwugwu ran in the 400 meter semifinal for the Red and Blue. The sophomore covered the distance in 53.49. She did not qualify for the final. Aliyah Abrams of South Carolina had the top time running a 51.51, her personal best.
Penn fell behind early, but mounted a comeback to finish 6th in their heat with a time of 3:36.84. The Quakers will not qualify for the final. The team was made up of Skyla Wilson, Cecil Ene, Elena Brown Soler, and Nwogwugwu who ran a 52.87 split. USC had the best qualifying time covering the distance in 3:28.31, a season-best. Alabama finished with a time of 3:28.51.
In the women’s Hammer Throw Penn freshman Mayyi Mahama placed 24th with a distance of 55.63 meters. The national champion was Camryn Rogers who threw a personal best distance of 71.50 meters.
The meet continues on Friday with men’s finals. Casey Comber of Villanova runs in the 1500 meter final.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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