Oregon State
UW Final Qualifier
Sara Almen And Kinsey Gomez PR At UW Final Qualifier
March 02, 2013 | Women's Track & Field
March 2, 2013
SEATTLE, Wash. - Freshman Sara Almen set a new personal record of 5' 11¼" in winning the high jump and sophomore Kinsey Gomez did the same by finishing third in a large 3K field with a time of 9:37.79, as the tandem closed out the Oregon State track & field squad's indoor season on a high note at the UW Final Qualifier on Friday night.
"This trip was so positive," Oregon State assistant coach Laura Harmon said. "It has been amazing to be around two young athletes who truly love their sport and are extremely focused. This was a trip where you just knew that the atmosphere and attitude were right and were going to lead to great performances."
Almen, who used this meet as a last chance to achieve an NCAA qualifying mark, topped out at 5' 11¼" to take the title from a field of eight competitors and continue her steady improvement since the season's first meet. The freshman jumped 5' 7¾" at the UW Invite on Jan. 20 and 5' 10" at the Husky Classic on Feb. 9 in her other outings thus far.
She easily cleared both 5' 7" and 5' 9" on her first attempts, missed her first try at 5' 11¼", but cleared it on her second. She missed three attempts at 6' ¼", but still walked away with a new PR.
"The fact that she has a very bright future in the high jump is obvious," Harmon said of Almen. "I honestly can't say enough positive things about this young woman."
In the past, automatic and provisional qualifying marks were used to select championships fields, but all guidelines have been removed this season - leaving just the top 16 performers in individual events eligible for championships competition in Fayetteville, Ark.
As it stands, Almen's new mark is tied for 19th in the country this year and the third-best for any freshman. It is also the third-best indoor high jump mark in Oregon State history, behind Joni Huntley's 6' 2½" at a USA-USSR dual in Richmond, Va. on March 3, 1975 and Carina Westover's 6' ½" from the 1984 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Gomez, who earned a chance to PR based on some impressive training in Corvallis, did just that and nearly set an Oregon State record in the process. The sophomore bested her previous indoor 3,000-meter mark by 13 seconds after running the track at Dempsey Indoor in 9:37.79.
At the UW Invite on Jan. 20 this year, Gomez finished third in the 3K with a time of 9:50.63, which had been the second-fastest time in school history. She came just short of eclipsing Laura Carlyle's indoor 3K school record of 9:35.99 from the same UW Final Qualifier on March 5, 2011.
"Kinsey went into the 3,000m extremely excited and couldn't wait to race," Harmon said. "Her training has been going incredibly well, things have started to click and she has been building a tremendous amount of momentum. I'm really proud of how far she has come. She is starting to break into an elite group of collegiate runners. If this is any indication of how her outdoor season will be, she is going to put her name on the map."
Gomez went out on the shoulder of the leader and stayed there the entire race despite changes to the runner in first. There was a significant move made at about 1000 meters, to which Gomez responded well. She went through the mile in 5:10 and ended up crossing the line just shy of Lindsey Drake (9:36.11) from Gonzaga and Allix Potratz-Lee (9:37.27) of the Vandal Club.
The UW Final Qualifier concluded the Beavers' indoor season and the team's outdoor slate kicks off tomorrow at the Willamette Opener in Salem. Live stats for the Willamette Opener will be available online at this link and a recap can be found on osubeavers.com following the completion of the day's action.
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