MARIETTA, OH. — Three Williams athletes
advanced to the finals of their respective events Friday at the
2009 NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field Championships being
held at Marietta College.
Junior Elise Johnson, who was seeded eighth in the 100 hurdles, was one of eight hurdlers to advance to Saturday's 1:55 p.m. final when she finished second in her heat with a time of 14.39 seconds. Johnson, who was one of 19 participants in Friday's trials, shaved two-tenths of a second off her qualifying time of 14.41.
Sophomore Lizzie Danhakl, who was seeded 14th in the 800, also advanced to the finals of that event — Saturday at 3 p.m. — by finishing third in her heat with a time of 2:12.30, nearly a full second better than her qualifying time. There were 19 runners participating in the trials. Danhakl had the sixth fastest time of the eight runners who qualified for the final.
Sophomore Meghan Shea finished just out of the scoring in the 3000 steeplechase, placing ninth in a time of 10:50.11, which was a drop off of nearly 14 seconds from her qualifying time.
Johnson, who will run in the finals of the 100 hurdles Saturday, took part in the 100-meter dash today and finished fifth in her heat with a time of 12.53 seconds. She did not advance to Saturday's finals in the event.
The women are in 7th place after Day 2 with 10 points.
On the men's side of the ledger, sophomore Taylor Fitzgerald was in fine form during the running of the 400-meter dash, finishing third in his heat but with the fourth fastest time of the eight participants who qualified for the finals with a time of 47.89 seconds.
Fitzgerald moved onto Saturday's finals, which will be at 2:10 p.m.
Here's a look at Saturday's finals schedule for Williams participants:
1:20 PM — Men's 1,500 (Macklin Chaffee)
1:30 PM — Women's 1,500 (Olga Kondratjeva)
1:55 PM — Women's 100 Hurdles (Elise Johnson)
2:10 PM — Men's 400 (Taylor Fitzgerald)
3:00 PM — Women's 800 (Lizzie Danhakl)
4:20 PM — Women's 5,000 (Lauren Philbrook)
4:45 PM — Men's 4x400 Relay (Fitzgerald, Alex Hoerman, Viktor Nagy, Deividas Seferis)
