Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
NCAA West Preliminary
Track & field recap: Hicks advances to NCAA championships
5/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Complete Schedule | Live Results | NCAA West Preliminary Central
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Colorado State track & field team opened the NCAA West Preliminary at Mike A. Myers Stadium with multiple personal records, improving each individual's standing in the national ranks. Senior Kiah Hicks was the first Ram to advance to the championship round in the three-day meet, earning an eighth place finish in the hammer throw.
"I thought the Rams competed well today," said head coach Brian Bedard. "Most of the athletes finished higher than their ranking. Kiah was mentally tough as usual. It was a solid day."
Focused on the task at hand, Hicks opened the first round of the women's hammer throw with a huge toss of 205 feet, 0 inches on her first attempt, propelling her into the eighth spot by the end of the opening stanza. The Colorado Springs native was just 2.5 feet shy of her career best, set at the Mountain West Championships earlier this month.
Stephanie Gerber opened track events for the day in the 400-meter hurdles. She clocked 1 minute, 1.45 seconds, finishing seventh in her heat, taking 36th overall. Sam Little placed fifth in the same event in his heat, taking 31st overall with a time of 52.57.
Leah Fair ran in the first of her three events on Thursday, taking fifth in her heat of the 100-meter dash and 28th overall with a lifetime best pace of 11.51. Teammate Josh DeLoach followed her on the track later in the evening, placing eight in his heat and 39th overall with a personal-record time of 10.48.
Running in the Rams' final sprint of the day was Abby Simpson and Emily Romo in the 400 meters. Romo finished fourth in her heat, just one spot away from advancing to the quarterfinal with a time of 54.51 in 30th place, while Simpson clocked 56.62, placing 47th overall.
Running in a highly competitive semifinal, Rachael Rudel made a huge leap in the standings on Thursday. She entered the women's 10,000 meters as the No. 48 final seed, but kept pace, improving 18 spots in the race to finish 30th with a time of 36.13.45. Ben Larson closed the evening in the men's 10,000, placing 38th at 32:07.40.
Rams JT Van Veen and Hunter Price weren't dismayed by the morning's weather, staying focused through two lightning-strike delays early in the day in the Texas capitol. Price leapt a career-best 24-3.5 in the long jump, finishing 2nd in the event. Van Veen was less than 2 feet shy of his PR with a throw of 178-9 in the discus. He posted a 15th-place finish.
Also competing in the women's hammer was Monet Jackson. She took 42nd in the event with a best toss of 178-10. Collin Scheer cleared the bar set at 6-8, but was unable to advance any further, taking 40th in the men's high jump.
Hicks and teammate Aaliyah Pete will get things started Friday at 11 a.m. MT in the discus throw. Tune into the live stream at 3:45 p.m. here and follow results @CSURAMSTRACK.
