The Syracuse track and field team split up this weekend, sending competitors to the Virginia Tech Final Qualifier in Blacksburg, Va., and the Columbia Last Chance meet in New York City. The meets were the last opportunity for automatic qualification in the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Flings Owusu-Agyapong missed automatic qualification by .17 seconds, as she finished third in the 60-meter dash at Virginia Tech. Amadou Gueye reached the semifinals in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.42 seconds but failed to qualify for the finals.

At the Columbia Last Chance meet, Jarret Eaton won the 60-meter hurdles in 7.63 seconds, continuing his standout season as a national championship contender.

Darryl White and Jihaad Howard finished third and fourth in the 60-meter dash in 6.87 and 6.88 seconds, respectively, in New York City. Andrew Palmer finished fifth in his heat in the 3,000-meter run with 8:21.79.

On the women’s side, Molly Malone finished fourth in her heat in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.05, and Katie Hursey finished fourth in the mile run with a time of 4:46.58. Lauren Penney finished fourth in her heat in the 3,000-meter run.

Orange runners who qualify will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Nampa, Idaho, from March 9-10. Eaton is the only Syracuse athlete to earn an automatic bid to the championships. At-large bids will be announced Monday.

—Compiled by Jacob Pramuk, staff writer, jspramuk@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2012 at 12:00 pm