Syracuse University
ECAC/IC4A Outdoor Championship
Heath Hunts Down Steeplechase Crown
5/15/2009 10:17:07 PM | Track and Field
PRINCETON, N.J. – Senior Kyle Heath sparked the Orange on the first day of the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Championship hosted by Princeton University after collecting his second-consecutive IC4A crown in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 8:42.38. Heath, who touted the fourth-fastest collegiate mark (8:40.89) heading into Friday night's race, won last year's IC4A title with a time of 8:50.82.
The 2008 All-American received All-BIG EAST honors two weeks ago at the conference championship with an NCAA-qualifying clip of 8:44.86. Tonight's results marked his second-fastest rate of the outdoor season.
Heath was not the only Orange to leave an impression at Princeton's Weaver Track & Field in the first day of action. Junior Uhunoma Osazuwa, fresh off her BIG EAST title in the heptathlon, continued in her dominating ways and leads the pack for the ECAC heptathlon chase.
Osazuwa won both the high jump and 200-meter dash to keep her ahead of the other contenders. The Las Vegas native cleared 1.72m and was clocked in 24.59 for top billing in those respective events. The 2009 BIG EAST Champ finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.44 and eighth in the shot put with a toss of 10.45m. Osazuwa has totaled 3,280 points, but the College of William and Mary's Katie Guevel is right on her heels with 3,209 points. Osazuwa looks to hold on in tomorrow's long jump, javelin and 800-meter run events.
In the women's 5,000-meter run, sophomore Catherine DeSarle logged an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 16:42.20 to break the school record for the second time this season. DeSarle's record-breaking clip yielded a third-place showing. Sophomore Rebekah MacKay was clocked in 17:06.26 for ninth while classmate Katie Hursey finished in 16th in 17:21.17.
For the men, sophomore Steve Weeks turned in a 21st-place time of 14:29.93 in the 5K.
Junior Curtis Bixler and freshman Pat Dupont tallied NCAA Regional-qualifying times of 8:59.24 and 9:03.09, respectively, to finish out in ninth and tenth place. Bixler's marked his second NCAA run this season, but Dupont recorded his first mark to make him eligible for Regionals on May 29 in Greensboro, N.C. Sophomore Mike Brocks closed out the Syracuse efforts in 19th after posting a time of 9:09.94.
Freshman Heather Stephens chalked up another NCAA Regional-qualifying performance in the women's steeplechase with her seventh-place time of 10:37.50. Stephens' time denoted her first NCAA-qualifying jaunt of the year. Classmate Natalie Busby rounded out her steeplechase run in 10:41.03 for ninth in NCAA Regional-qualifying form. Junior Stefanie Slekis closed out in 24th to the tune of 11:13.78.
After day one, the men are in fifth place with 10 points while the women are in sixth with eight.
The ECAC/IC4A Championship continues tomorrow, May 16, at 9:00 a.m. with the conclusion of the men's decathlon. Osazuwa seeks her second-consecutive postseason heptathlon title starting at 9:30 a.m.
