NAPERVILLE, Ill. – First-year student-athlete Aubrey Roberts ran a personal best, and the second-fastest time in school history, in the 5000M race Thursday night at the 2017 Dr. Keeler Invitational.
THURSDAY RESULTS - 2017 Dr. Keeler Invitational
Roberts' 16:25.23 only trails former student-athlete and assistant coach Audrey Huth in the program record book.
The performance was more than 18 seconds faster than the runner-up, teammate and classmate Sarah Nicholson (16:43.63) and more than 49 seconds ahead of third-place. It was also a 12-second improvement on her top previous time this year (in a shortened outdoor season), the 16:37.31 turned in last weekend at the 2017 Oxy Invitational in southern California.
Her time puts her significantly closer to the standard necessary for an invitation to the 2017 NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas. The current Top-48 cutoff for the 5000M race is 16:17.29.
On Friday at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, junior Isabel Seidel will run the 3000M Steeplechase, an event in which she owns the school record. That season-best 10:33.30 at the 2017 Virginia Challenge is just one second shy of the current national Top-48.
"Isabel has had a great spring in this event, our goal this weekend is to have a clean race and run an even rhythm between the barriers," said head coach 'AHavahla Haynes. "For all three of our women, this event represents a last chance to punch their ticket to the postseason, which is a motivation and challenge I know they've embraced."
THURSDAY RESULTS - 2017 Dr. Keeler Invitational
Roberts' 16:25.23 only trails former student-athlete and assistant coach Audrey Huth in the program record book.
The performance was more than 18 seconds faster than the runner-up, teammate and classmate Sarah Nicholson (16:43.63) and more than 49 seconds ahead of third-place. It was also a 12-second improvement on her top previous time this year (in a shortened outdoor season), the 16:37.31 turned in last weekend at the 2017 Oxy Invitational in southern California.
Her time puts her significantly closer to the standard necessary for an invitation to the 2017 NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas. The current Top-48 cutoff for the 5000M race is 16:17.29.
On Friday at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, junior Isabel Seidel will run the 3000M Steeplechase, an event in which she owns the school record. That season-best 10:33.30 at the 2017 Virginia Challenge is just one second shy of the current national Top-48.
"Isabel has had a great spring in this event, our goal this weekend is to have a clean race and run an even rhythm between the barriers," said head coach 'AHavahla Haynes. "For all three of our women, this event represents a last chance to punch their ticket to the postseason, which is a motivation and challenge I know they've embraced."