May 1, 2010
AUBURN - While most of the Auburn track and field teams took the weekend off, the Tigers had five distance runners compete Saturday night at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, hosted by Stanford University.
The Tigers had two men and three women compete at Stanford in hopes of posting times that will qualify them for the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round. Runners that rank in the top 48 in their respective events at the end of the regular season will be eligible to compete at the preliminary round.
On the men's side, senior Elkanah Kibet finished 20th in section 1 of the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:59.56, but was unable to improve on his previous season best of 13:44.59 which ranked second in the East Region entering the weekend. Senior Jean-Pierre Weerts ran in section 2 of the 5,000 meters, clocking a time of 14:03.12 in his first 5,000-meter race of the season, which puts him in line for a spot at the NCAA Preliminary Round.
For the women, junior Holly Knight placed 12th in section 2 of the women's 5,000 meters, posting a time of 16:17.65 which puts her into the top 20 of the NCAA East Region. She was not far off her personal-best time of 16:11.46 that ranks second in Auburn history. Senior Stephanie Barnes was 24th in the same section in 17:00.15.
In addition, senior Laurel Pritchard was 23rd in the 10,000 meters, posting a time of 35:10.19 which should qualify her for the NCAA Preliminary Round as well.
The Tigers will take next weekend off before competing at the SEC Outdoor Championships May 13-16 in Knoxville, Tenn.