Denfeld Wraps Up OSU's Season - Oregon State University Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon State’s Lauren Denfeld placed fourth in her section of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday at the NCAA West Regional Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field. Denfeld’s time of 10 minutes, 47.71 seconds was good for 19th place overall in the event after she entered the weekend seeded 26th.

“We’re really proud of Lauren,” OSU head coach Kelly Sullivan said. “The wind affected the times a little bit, but we are really pleased with her effort. It was her second-fastest time ever, and it was a good way to end the season.”

Denfeld had set the OSU school record in the event earlier this season at 10:46.54; her time on Saturday was her second-fastest ever. Denfeld has nearly 20 seconds off her personal best in the event since last season.

Denfeld’s section had nine runners, with Tawny Bybee of Brigham Young taking first place in 10:36.41 while Angela Spadafino of Arizona State was second in 10:38.15 and Maddie O’Meara of Stanford was third in 10:44.73. The overall winner came from the second section, where Lindsey Anderson of Weber State crossed the finish line at 9:51.51 in one of the top fields in the country in the event.

Denfeld was the second OSU runner to qualify for the NCAA West Regional since the Beavers reinstated their program in the fall of 2004; Ashley Younce had competed in the women’s 5,000 meters in 2006.

Denfeld’s run concluded Oregon State’s track and field season. The Beavers now look ahead to the 2007 cross country season, when OSU will greet a class of highly-regarded freshmen and will also host the Pacific-10 Championships.