Oregon State
NCAA West Regional Preliminaries (Almen)
Almen, Gomez Wrap Up Track & Field Season For OSU At West Regional
May 25, 2013 | Women's Track & Field
May 25, 2013
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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Sara Almen was the top freshman finisher in the high jump and sophomore Kinsey Gomez finished 19th in her 5,000-meter heat as the duo wrapped up action for Oregon State track and field at the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas over the weekend.
After a more than six hour rain delay at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas, Almen made her postseason debut in the high jump on Friday and, in the process, became OSU's first female field event participant at an NCAA meet since 1988.
She cleared 5-5 on her first attempt and then missed her first try at 5-7 before successfully crossing on her second. With that bar raised to 5-8.75, Almen missed her first two tries at the height and succumbed to the wet conditions on her final attempt, losing her footing as she took off and falling into the pit to bow out of the competition.
Despite not matching her outdoor best of 5-10, Almen was the highest of three freshmen to earn a trip to regionals, and finished in a tie for 22nd. Lauren Laszczak of Northern Arizona was the last NCAA Championships qualifier at 5-8.75, beating out Kelsey English of Colorado and Mariah Thompson of Utah State for that coveted 12th position.
Athletes who ranked among the top 48 in their respective event earned berths into the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Those with the top 12 times or marks at both the East and West prelims qualified for the NCAA Championships, held from June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
In the 5,000 on Saturday evening, sophomore Kinsey Gomez ran her race in 17:17.54, finishing 19th in her heat and 42nd overall. Another member of the Beavers' youth movement, Gomez was one of just 14 underclassmen that made up the eventual field of 47 in the West Regional 5K.
Despite the inability of either to advance, Oregon State's young pair has set themselves up well for the future. Recently, Almen finished third in the high jump at the Pac-12 Championships after clearing 5-10, tying her best outdoor mark of the season. In the process, she became OSU's second-highest finisher at the conference championships since the reinstatement of the program in 2005. Her high jump performance at the conference meet was also the best for a freshman at the Pac-12 Championships since Brigetta Barrett, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, came in third in 2010.
While splitting time with the OSU volleyball team, Almen cleared 5-11.25 in the high jump at the UW Final Qualifier on March 1, which tied for 19th in the country during the indoor season and was the third-best for any freshman. It is also the fourth-best indoor high jump mark in Oregon State history and the second-best in the Pac-12 this year, regardless of season (indoor or outdoor), and behind only Barrett's collegiate-record leap of 6-6.25 at the conference championships.
In just her second career outdoor competition at the Oregon Twilight on May 3, Almen won the high jump by clearing 5-10 and then equaled that mark at the Pac-12 Championships on May 11. She is currently sixth on OSU's all-time outdoor list and is close behind a pair of 5-11 standouts from the early 1980's, Cindy Greiner and Sue Blake.
Gomez earned her trip to Austin when she moved into second on Oregon State's all-time list in the 5K at Mt. SAC, cutting 14 seconds off her previous best in the 5,000 to finish 10th in the event's `A' section with a time of 16:24.17. That mark is now shy of only former OSU All-American Laura Carlyle, who ran 16:05.04 at the NCAA West Regional in 2011. Her 1,500 time of 4:26.89 at the inaugural OSU High Performance Meet on April 26 is third on the program's all-time list and her indoor 3,000 time of 9:37.79 at the UW Final Qualifier on March 1 is second on the Beavers' all-time list in that event.
With the weekend's results, Oregon State will not be represented at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009.
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