Wildcat men in 4th at NCAA track

By foxsports
Published


Arizona junior Nick Ross and sophomore Elvin Kibel earned All-America honors and the women’s 4x400-meter relay team set a school record in Thursday's second day of action at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Ross placed fourth in the men’s high jump competition with a learance of 7 feet, 4.25 inches to earn his third consecutive All-America honor and earn five points for the Wildcats. He will compete Friday in the triple jump. Arizona junior Edgar Rivera-Morales cleared 7-2.5 to place 11th.

Kibet placed seventh in the women’s 10,000 meters with a personal-best time of 33:02.04, earning two points. Junior Jen Bergman finished 12th in 33:41.76. Kibet will run in the 5,000 on Saturday.

“I got out there and I was really confident,” Kibet said. “The last two workouts before this race I felt really good and I knew I was going to have a really good race.

"(Going into the 5K) I have the same confidence and I am really motivated because I didn’t know that I was going to do that well (in the 10K) and I’m really excited about it. So I’m just going to go out there relaxed and do my best. It’s the last race of the season and I’m just going to have fun.”

The women's 4x400-meter relay team of sophomore Shapri Romero, senior Echos Blevins, sophomore Tamara Pridgett and junior Georganne Moline clocked a school-record time of 3:31.06, good for second place in its heat and a berth in Saturday's final. Moline anchored the race in 51.76 seconds. The previous school record of 3:31.62 was set last year.

“It went really well, I could just tell from the beginning, with Shapri’s leg that we were going to get a good time,” Moline said. “She looked strong, same with Echos and Tamara, so I was excited. I ran well but I put myself in a bad position. Towards the turn I had to run in lane two or three, that’s where my kick comes in so I knew I had to go."

Sophomore Lawi Lalang took third place in heat two and 11th overall in the men’s 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:42.61. That finish was good for a place in the final on Saturday. Laland and senior Stephen Sambu will run in the 5,000 on Friday.

Senior Taylor Bush threw 202-9 in the women’s hammer throw, good for 11th place.

WIth 13 points, Arizona is fourth in the men's team standings, trailing Texas (19), Arkansas (16) and Nebraska (14). Stanford leads the women's standings with 22.