5/21/2009 8:54:27 AM
Jessica Monson ran her first open 800m of the year, including indoors and it was just .4 of a second off of her best ever school record when she won the event at the North Central College Gregory Last Chance Open. Monson was timed in 2:09.29, which met the NCAA II Automatic Qualifying Standard as well, the third event she has reached the time standard in this year.
Closing out the season for the Runnin' Rangers with personal best performances were Hope Christie in the 5000m Run and Whitney Olson in the 1500m. Christie placed 8th in the event with a time of 17:48.33, and career best by 56 seconds. Olson won her section of the 1500m with a time of 4:59.54, dipping under 5:00 for the first time in her career.
Coach Mike De Witt commented on the North Central Meet efforts: "It was a good meet for the group that closed out the regular season for the women's team. Jessica Monson ran a very strong and smooth race, something that she hasn't done in a couple of months. Despite her great marks all season long, she has been working too hard at times to race. In this event, she worked relaxed and solid all the way to the finish line. Hope Christie closed out the year on a very positive note running a very strong race at 5000m. She missed the National Meet by just over .5 of a second at the 1500m, but didn't let that deter her from running nearly a minute faster at the distance. Her time placed her at #12 on the UWP all-time list. This was the first time she has run the event outdoors."
MONSON SET FOR NCAA NATIONAL MEET IN 1500m EVENT
Jessica Monson will be the lone UWP Track Athlete competing at the NCAA II National Championship that will be hosted by Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas Thursday-Saturday.
She has met the Qualifying Standard at 5000m and 800m but will stick with the event that she placed 2nd in last year. Monson will enter the meet as the 3rd seeded athlete in the event behind this past falls National Champion in Cross Country as well as Indoor Mile and 5000m Champion Jessica Pixler of Seattle Pacific. Ashly Puga of Northwest Nazarene (ID) was the Indoor Champion at 800m this year and is seeded second.
The first round of qualifying will be held on Thursday evening and the finals are scheduled for Saturday evening.
Here is the list of qualifiers entered into the National Meet.
Event 5 Women 1500 Meter Run
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Meet Record: 4:13.00 5/27/1989 Teena Colebrook, Cal Poly SLO
Name Year School Seed
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1 735 Jessica Pixler So Seattle Pacific 4:17.68
2 716 Ashley Puga Sr NW Nazarene 4:23.17
3 809 Jessica Monson Sr Wisc-Parkside 4:24.25
4 599 Mikinzie Stuart Sr Ferris State 4:26.53
5 615 Monica Kinney Fr Grand Valley St 4:27.53
6 733 Jane Larson Jr Seattle Pacific 4:28.12
7 787 Brianna Schofield So UC San Diego 4:29.67
8 744 Abagail Huber So Shippensburg 4:30.23
9 740 Mary Dell Jr Shippensburg 4:30.58
10 582 Melanie Peddle Sr Colorado/Mines 4:31.67
11 546 Katie Hickey Sr Bellarmine 4:31.88
12 678 Christina DaLomba Sr Mass - Lowell 4:32.93
13 704 Michelle May Sr Neb-Kearney 4:33.08
14 623 Susie Rivard Sr Grand Valley St 4:33.23
15 673 Shala Simms Sr Lock Haven 4:33.41
16 595 Katie Mona Fr Emporia State 4:35.18
17 713 Anna O'Brien Sr NW Missouri St 4:36.76