Ewing, NJ/Bridgewater, VA — There’s a reason they’re called “last chance” meets.
Just over a week before the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships are slated to begin, senior Kristen Bates added another bullet point on her already incredible resume, setting a school-record in the triple jump at Thursday’s Last Chance Meet at The College of New Jersey.
Bates cleared a distance of 39 feet, 9 inches to break her mark of 39 feet, 3 and ¾ inches set last year, and in doing so automatically qualified for the upcoming championships with the year’s second-best leap in the nation. Bates’ mark of 12.12 meters puts her just four centimeters off the leader.
In addition to solidifying her place in the triple jump, Bates also competed in the 100-meter hurdles Thursday, winning the event in a time of :14.35. Bates currently holds the nation’s top time in that event — :13.99 set at the Penn Invitational — while she has also provisionally qualified in the 400-meter hurdles, the long jump and the heptathlon.
Messiah sent a small group of athletes to both Thursday’s TCNJ event and a last chance meet at Bridgewater College Wednesday, and the results were impressive. Sophomore Tyler Newhook ran a solid lifetime personal-best in the 800-meter run Thursday to provisionally qualify for the upcoming NCAA National Championships, finishing in 1:52.17 — the second-best all-time mark in program history.
Senior AJ Smith competed in the javelin Wednesday at Bridgewater, finishing with a distance of 187 feet, 4 inches. That mark could not better Smith’s season-best 193-feet, 2-inch mark set at the Greyhound Invitational on Apr. 17 — a provisionally qualifying mark.
Senior Eddy Palmer stands as Messiah’s other athlete to provisionally qualify for the upcoming championships, running a 1:52.36 at the Penn Invitational in the 800 as well. Newhook’s best time currently has him ranked 16th in the event; Palmer is seated 22nd.
It remains to be seen if Smith, Newhook or Palmer will join Bates in the national championships, as well as just how many events Bates will qualify for. The decision will then be left up to the coaching staff to figure out the best plan of attack for Bates, as the Landisville, Pa. native looks to add to her two national championships and nine All-American honors.
The 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will be held May 27-29 at Tressel Field at Finnie Stadium on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. Events are slated to begin at 11:50 a.m. Thursday, 10:50 a.m. Friday and 11:20 a.m. Saturday. NCAA.com will have live streaming video of all the action, while fans can visit the Baldwin-Wallace National Championships site for further details.