Stage set for 8 CMS athletes to compete for national title

GENEVA, Ohio – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Track & Field program saw three athletes advance to the final round of their events at the 2017 NCAA Track & Field Championships on Friday afternoon. Tyra Abraham (SC '18) won her heat in the women's 100 meter preliminaries while Carmen Mejia (SC '17) qualified for the women's 1,500 meter final after taking first place in her group. Joshua Sealand (HMC '17) took the final spot in the men's 1,500 final with the ninth-best time in the preliminaries.

In the shot put preliminaries, Vaiva Palunas (SC '17) recorded a foul on her first attempt, but came back on the second with a 13.35 meter throw. Hoping to secure a spot in the top nine for the final, Palunas surpassed her previous attempt at 13.48. However, it was not enough as she finished in 14^th. She will compete in one more event, the hammer, tomorrow.

Abraham did not get a good start off the block, but quickly made up ground as she took the lead three-fourths of the way through the race. The reigning national champion did not slow down and took first place at 12 seconds flat. She will run in the 100 meter final tomorrow as the third seed.

Racing in the first heat for the 800 meter, Mejia got off to a well-timed start and took the lead on the first straightaway of the track. She continued to stay in the front, running at a consistent pace and finishing in first with a time of 2:10.05. She will race as the second seed in the final.

Having just competed in the 1500 meter the day before, Sealand demonstrated he still had plenty in the tank by qualifying for the last spot of the 800 meter final by just 0.01 seconds. Sealand got off to a solid start and paced himself early in the race almost leading the group, but found himself trailing leader Grant Morton from Carroll University by a stride. Morton extended his lead by several steps after the third turn and Andrew Sharp of Greenville College managed to get past Sealand on a straightaway during the second lap. However, Sealand, Sharp, and Nicholas Salomon from Hope College tried to leg out the final straightaway as they all passed Morton in the final 20 meters. The three runners were neck-to-neck until the end, but Saloman crossed first while Sealand took third with a time of 1:51.63.

The National Championships will wrap up tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. PDT as eight CMS athletes will compete in the final round of their respective events.

You can watch the events live here.

Results | NCAA Championship Site

By Young Kim
Sports Information Assistant

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