June 12, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Irish track and field team was back in action on Thursday, June 11 from John McDonnell Field as Justin Schneider (decathlon), Jaclyn Espinoza (discus) and Patrick Smyth (10,000 meters) took part on day two of the NCAA Championships.
NCAA Championships Results (Day Two)
Men’s 10000 Meters: Patrick Smyth (Salt Lake City, Utah), completed the course in a time of 29:08.13 to finish in fourth-place. Galen Rupp of Oregon won the race, completing the course in a time of 28:21.45. Smyth, a recently selected ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic all-District honoree, secured the Irish men’s team five points in the team standings with his performance, placing the Irish in a 10th-place tie alongside Manhattan and Texas.
With the fourth place finish, Smyth also captured the seventh USTFCCCA All-America honor of his Irish career. His combined seven All-America citations are the third most in Irish men’s track & field/cross country history behind only Ryan Shay (10) and Luke Watson (eight). Smyth became the first All-American honoree based on finishing in the top-six in the 10,000m since Shay finished second in 2002.
Decathlon: Justin Schneider (Atlanta, Ga.) completed the 10-event decathlon on Thursday. He recorded a 20th-place finish in the event. Over the course of the two-day competition, Schneider totaled 7,248 points. He earned his best finish in the final event of the competition, the 1500m run, finishing in fourth place and earning 793 points for his effort.
The decathlon victory went to Ashton Eaton of Oregon who finished the competition with a point total of 8,241.
Women’s Discus Throw: Jaclyn Espinoza (Keizer, Ore.) earned a spot in the discus throw finals on Saturday, June 13 by qualifying in 12th place on Thursday. She posted a mark of 50.44 (165-06), good for eighth in her flight and the final spot in the finals.
Continue to check back with und.com for further updates from the NCAA Championships, as Mary Saxer looks to capture the women’s pole vault crown on Friday night after qualifying in a tie for first place in the event prelims. The women’s pole vault final gets underway at 7:00 p.m. (CST).
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