It seems as though every time Kevin Robertson steps on the track this season, he runs just a little faster than the last time. Such was the case Friday night at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville when the Syracuse junior won his heat of the 3000 metre steeplechase in a new lifetime best of 8 minutes and 46.98 seconds.
Friday night’s time was Robertson’s second personal best performance of the season and all three of his steeplechase runs have been under his pre-season best.
“The fitness is coming along really well and I feel like my steeple technique is getting better every race,” said Robertson following his race. “I’ll probably race a 1500 next weekend where I’ll get to see what I’ve got in a flat race”
The Bell High School grad will return his focus to the steeplechase at next month’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at Duke University and then at the NCAA East Regional Preliminary where he hopes to earn a spot on the line at the NCAA Championships in June.
The Jack Christiansen Invitational in Colorado may have had you thinking you were at a cross country meet with the mercury hovering around 10 degrees celsius and the wind blowing between 40 to 55 km/h. Despite the unfavourable conditions, Lauren Gale finished the final home meet of her collegiate career with a pair of sizable victories.
Gale started the day off by outclassing the 400 metre field by more than five seconds as she powered through the gusting winds to win a time of 52.49 seconds. The Colorado State senior promptly followed that up with an outdoor all-conditions best of 23.07 seconds – more than a second and a half ahead of teammate Grace Goldsworthy in second. While the trailing wind of 4.0 m/s was too much for record purposes, the performance was within the allowable limit for NCAA ranking purposes.
With her two victories on Saturday, Gale now ranks 29th and 30th in the NCAA for the 200 and 400 metres respectively.
Keira Christie-Galloway took top spot at the ASU Twilight Collegiate in Tempe, AZ. The Arizona State runner won the 100 metre hurdle event in a time of 13.38 seconds, narrowly edging out teammate Cortney Jones. Christie-Galloway, who owns a seasonal best of 13.34 seconds, is currently ranked 41st in the NCAA and well positioned to return to the NCAA West Preliminaries next month.
Down in Texas,Sharelle Samuel’s winning streak over the 400 metre hurdles was snapped Saturday at the Michael Johnson Invitational in Waco. The Harvard senior placed 10th in 59.41 seconds – the second best of her career. Samuel was also 12th in the open 400 metres in 55.52 seconds.
Rounding out the performances from the weekend, Tommy Nedow posted two top five finishes at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge. Nedow placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 51.50 metres and took fifth in the shot put with a heave of 16.35 metres. The Southeastern Louisiana University student also placed 9th in the hammer throw, hurling the 16 pound ball out to 51.49 metres.