Second day brings ups, downs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Athletes with local connections encountered a mixed bag Thursday during the second day of the NCAA track and field championships at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.

Starting with the successes, Oregon freshman Rebekah Noble, a Rogers High product, cruised into Saturday’s final of the women’s 800-meter run with a semifinal time of 2 minutes, 5.49 seconds.

Noble had the second-best time in her heat and the third-fastest mark overall.

Noble’s UO teammate, junior Britney Henry (Lewis and Clark High), qualified for Saturday’s finals in the women’s hammer throw with an effort of 210 feet, 5 inches, the fourth-best mark among 28 competitors.

Idaho sophomore Dee Olson moved on to Saturday’s finals in the women’s 1,500 with a time of 4:19.16 in the semifinals.

WSU junior John Cassleman (Pullman High) qualified for today’s men’s 400 hurdles semifinals in 50.74, the second-best time in his heat. But Eastern Washington University senior Alex Moon (Shadle Park High) finished 52.26 in his heat and didn’t advance.

WSU senior Tamara Diles qualified for Saturday’s final in the women’s pole vault with a qualifying height of 13-5 1/4.

Others with area ties missed chances to advance.

Idaho junior Russ Winger threw 59-3 1/2 in the men’s shot put preliminaries and missed qualifying for the finals by 7 1/2 inches. Winger, who fouled on his final two throws, also failed to advance during Wednesday’s qualifying in the discus.

WSU junior Jaycee Robertson (10.59) and senior James McSwain (10.69) didn’t advance from the first round of the men’s 100.

Sophomore Jon Jeffreys (WSU/West Valley High) threw 197-8 in the preliminaries and didn’t advance in men’s javelin.

Mt. Spokane High product Cameron Schwehr, a senior at Kansas, just missed moving on to the finals of the men’s 1,500. Schwehr’s semifinal time of 3:45.16 placed him 13th on the day, with the top 12 advancing.

Brigham Young University’s Chelsea McKell (Mt. Spokane High), who had qualified for the women’s 10,000 final, didn’t run. No reason was reported. Arizona State’s Victoria Jackson won the event with a personal-best 32:54.72.

Elsewhere at the meet, overwhelming favorite Trey Hardee failed to defend his decathlon title when he was unable to clear a height in the pole vault, one of his best events.

The Texas senior’s blunder cleared the way for Arizona junior Jake Arnold to win with 7,870 points.

The three-time defending champion Arkansas men, considered a long shot this year, got a 1-5 finish in the 10,000. Josephat Boit won in 28:37.64.