Almen And Gomez To Represent OSU At NCAA T&F West Regional
May 22, 2013
2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field West Prelims Headquarters
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Freshman Sara Almen and sophomore Kinsey Gomez will represent the Oregon State track and field program at the NCAA West Regional Preliminaries in Austin, Texas this weekend. Both will be appearing in NCAA postseason action for the first time - Almen in the high jump and Gomez in the 5,000.
The University of Texas is hosting the three-day competition at its Mike A. Myers Stadium. Athletes who rank 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 will qualify for the NCAA Championships, held from June 5-8 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
Live results from the meet can be found at this 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field West Prelims Headquarters.
Oregon State's young pair has some experience traveling and competing together from the indoor season when they were the Beavers' only entries at the UW Final Qualifier in early March. In early March, they were the Beavers' only entries in the UW Final Qualifier, the season's final indoor meet. At that competition, Almen set a personal record of 5-11.25 in winning the high jump and Gomez did the same by finishing third in a large 3K field with a time of 9:37.79. A recap of that evening in Seattle can be found here.
Almen will begin competition for the duo on Friday in the first flight of the women's high jump at 6 p.m. CT/4 p.m PT and in the process will be OSU's first female field event participant at an NCAA meet since 1988.
Most recently, the freshman 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.
The Albany, Ore. product enters the event tied for 15th in the West and is one of only three freshmen high jumpers making the journey to Austin. Almen has had an outstanding freshman campaign while splitting time with the Oregon State volleyball team. She 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.
The progression on Friday will go 5-5, 5-7, 5-8.75, 5-10.5 and 5-11.5 and then the bar will be raised three centimeters. There is a random draw for pit and order and a simultaneous bar raise. The competition will be 5-alive until there are fewer than nine left at a given height. The top 12 overall placers will advance to Eugene with a jump off possible for the 12th spot.
Gomez will race on Saturday in the first heat of the women's 5,000 at 8:05 p.m. CT/6:05 p.m PT.
The sophomore 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. Her mark is now shy of only former OSU All-American Laura Carlyle, who ran 16:05.04 at the NCAA West Regional in 2011.
The Coeur d'Alene product enters Saturday's race seeded 39th in the 5K and, after a fantastic sophomore campaign, also narrowly missed out on qualifying for regionals in the 1,500 as well.
Gomez has PR'd in all but one race she has entered this season (Indoor 3,000, 1,500 and 5,000). 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.
The 5K in Austin will consist of one round and two heats. The top five finishers from each heat plus the next two best times will advance to Eugene.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to Our Beaver Nation. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370.
Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
