Sophomore Emily Richards leads Women's Track & Field with stadium record on day two of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships
By Ashley Birchmeier
WAVERLY, Iowa - Sophomore Emily Richards qualified for the finals in the 800-meter run with a record setting performance on day two of the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday at Walston-Hoover Stadium on the campus of Wartburg College.
Richards won her heat in 2:09.44, breaking the previous stadium record of 2:11.54 set at the 2005 National Championships.
"I felt really good," said Richards. "We had great weather and I am ready for tomorrow."
She will be the number one seed in the finals Saturday at 3 pm (CST).
Senior Kristine Wagner opened the day for Northern with the long jump portion of the heptathlon, claiming an 18th place finish with a distance of 15 feet 10.25 inches, earning 514 points.
She then competed in the javelin where she used her third and final throw to take 11th place with a toss of 97 feet 6.5 inches, earning 471 points.
She concluded the heptathlon with the 800-meter run, finishing 14th overall in 2:32.11, earning 667 points.
Wagner finished her first NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with 4,254 points, finishing 16th overall. She entered the meet ranked 21st overall.
Senior Allie Gast competed in the 100-meter hurdles on Friday afternoon, finishing seventh in her heat and 20th overall in :15.18.
"It didn't go as well as I had hoped," said Gast. "But it was a great opportunity and is motivation for this summer and next season."
Sophomore Matt Molinaro competed in the 800-meter run for ONU, finishing the race in what would have been a stadium record time of 1:49.53.
He was later disqualified from the finals Saturday after a lane violation on the opening lap.
The ruling was later upheld by video evidence following an appeal from the ONU coaching staff.
"Matt ran a great race," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "He was impressive, but the rules are in place. We did what we could, but the officials upheld their call based on video. It was unfortunate that he was disqualified but we will accept it and move on."
