June 10, 2010
EUGENE, Ore. - The Auburn men's and women's track and field teams had a relatively light but productive second day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday, highlighted by sophomore Ben Cheruiyot earning All-American honors in the 10,000 meters in front of 11,172 fans at Hayward Field.
In addition to Cheruiyot's accomplishment, the Tigers advanced two women and another relay into finals. Although the Auburn women have not yet scored any points, the Tiger women have six qualifiers in finals over the final two days, which is tied for second most in the field. The Auburn men have two finals qualifiers.
"I'm once again pleased with our efforts today," said head coach Ralph Spry. "Ben ran a gutsy race in a tough field and our women continue to handle their business and get people through to finals. They're putting themselves in position to go for a top-five finish. Our men are grinding but we still have some firepower and need to finish with a bang. We still have a lot of opportunities to score."
Cheruiyot finished seventh in the race in 29:09.09, and will earn his second career All-American honor and first in track and field after becoming a cross country All-American in the fall. The SEC champion in the event clocked a personal-best time that ranks fifth in school history. He had dropped to ninth place with two laps to go, but regrouped and charged past two competitors on the last lap to finish seventh.
"I'm not that happy with my race but I'm happy to be an All-American," said Cheruiyot. "The race didn't go the way I wanted. I wanted to stay in the top six throughout the race but I realized I was falling back and I think that messed up my strategy. But then I realized I had a chance to be an All-American so I started to push and tried my best and ended up an All-American."
Senior Elkanah Kibet also ran in the 10,000 meters for Auburn, finishing in 16th place with a time of 29:30.46.
The Tigers advanced two runners to the finals of the women's 200 meters, as junior Sheniqua Ferguson and sophomore Nivea Smith look to repeat their performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships when they finished first and second, respectively. Running in the same semifinal heat, Ferguson was first in the heat and fourth overall in 23.31 seconds, while Smith was second in the heat and sixth overall with a time of 23.41.
Freshman Kai Selvon also competed in the same heat of the 200 meters, and was fourth in the heat and 12th overall with a time of 23.58 seconds in her first NCAA Championship race.
Later in the evening, Selvon anchored the women's 4x400-meter relay team advanced to Saturday's final. Despite entering the meet ranked No. 11 in the field, the team of juniors Cache Armbrister and Joanna Atkins, sophomore CeCe Williams and Selvon placed second in their heat and seventh overall with a time of 3:34.71.
Felix Kiboiywo had his collegiate career come to a disappointing close, as the senior finished 17th in the semifinals of the men's 1500 meters. Kiboiywo led for more than two laps, but faded down the stretch to finish with a time of 3:46.96.
Competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships will continue Friday with Ferguson and sophomore Marcus Rowland competing in the finals of the women's and men's 100 meters, respectively, and Atkins running in the finals of the women's 400 meters. CBS College Sports will air the NCAA Outdoor Championships from 7-9 p.m. CT and will have live coverage of those finals.