Two More Gopher Men Advance to NCAA Champs In Eugene; Two Gopher Women Will Try on Saturday

Harun Abda and Travis Burkstrand advanced to the NCAA Championships next month after earning automatic qualifying bids in the 800 meters on Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, TX.

Following a roughly three-hour delay due to heavy rains and inclement weather  the Gophers duo finished first and second in the same quarterfinal heat to advance to the 800 meter semifinals next month in Eugene, OR. Abda, who finished with a season-best time of 1:48.18, led the pack for the final 400 meters of Friday’s race and posted the third best overall time in the quarterfinals while Burkstrand was right behind at 1:48.46 for the sixth best overall time.

Cameron Boy advanced out of the 200 meters prelims and will compete in the semifinals on Saturday night. Boy clocked 21.47 to finish second in his heat and 12^th overall. Mark Jennings and Logan Hussung were unable to advance in Friday’s shot put competition.  Jennings narrowly missed the cut with a toss of 57'.25" ft. (17.38 meters), while Hussung threw 51'7.25" (15.73 meters).  

Due to the weather delay, Friday’s men's hammer throw competition was rescheduled for Saturday morning.

For the women, Megan Geyen came within nine-hundredths of a second of her personal best  with a time of 53.81, which was a half second from qualifying for the NCAA Championships.

Alena Brooks and Te’Shon Adderley finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the final heat of the 800-meter run as Adderley posted a personal best time of 2:06.38, which is now third all-time in Minnesota history. Brooks edged out her fellow teammate with a time of 2:06.25, but it was still four tenths from qualifying for a trip to Eugene. Katie Loberg cleared 5'5" (1.65m) in the high jump, but also failed to qualify.

Katie Moraczewski(10:14.87) was five seconds from a qualifying spot in the steeple and tenths of a second from her PR.  Kelli Budd finished in 10:34.67, which topped her previous-best time and keeps her seventh all-time.

Two Gopher  women will compete on Saturday,  Emily Betz in the javelin and Laura Docherty in the 5K.  Weather permitting, Betz throws at 5 p.m., while Docherty runs at  8:05 p.m.