Everything is bigger in Texas, or so the saying goes. For Kevin Robertson and Keira Christie-Galloway, they’ll find out first hand if there’s any truth to the rumour as they head to Austin to compete in the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships next month. Both Kevin and Keira qualified for the national collegiate championship by way of their finishing at this weekend’s East and West Preliminary Meets.
Robertson was the first to punch his ticket to Austin, winning his quarterfinal of the 3000 metre steeplechase in Jacksonville, Florida on Friday night. The Syracuse junior entered the competition with the 13th fastest time in the nation and lived up to his top billing with his winning run of 8 minutes and 47.69 seconds.
In what was a tightly contested race, Robertson hit the bell in fourth place – two and a half seconds behind the leader. As the lead back approached the final water jump, Robertson dropped the hammer, leaving the rest of the field with only the back of his head to look at. By the corner the lead was already five plus metres, and the computer engineering student just continued to accelerate from there as he closed in a speedy 62.75 seconds.
For Christie-Galloway, a pair of second place finishes was all she needed to earn a trip back to the NCAA Championships – her first since earning Second Team All-American honours at the 2019 championship. Coming on the heels of a personal best effort of 13.01 seconds for the 100 metre hurdles at the WAC Championship, the Grand Canyon University student laid down back to back times of 13.08 seconds to finish second in both her heat and quarterfinal. Both performances were the second fastest of her career and earned her the Big Q to advance to Austin.
The NCAA Championships will begin Wednesday, June 7 at the University of Texas’ Mike Myers Stadium with Robertson scheduled to run the steeplechase semi-finals at 8:02 pm eastern. Christie-Galloway will run the 100 metre hurdle semi-finals the following day at 9:32 pm eastern.