Bennie Punches Ticket to NCAA Championship

For the fourth year in a row, Colin Bennie will toe the line in the NCAA final in Eugene.

The senior collected his fourth-straight ticket to the NCAA Championships with a seventh-place finish in the 10000-meters on Thursday night, earning Syracuse's first bid thus far in 2018.

Bennie led five 'Cuse competitors in the 10k, working his way to the front and hanging on the rail for the duration of the race, finishing in 29:23.08 on a humid night in Tampa. Alabama's Vincent Kiprop won the race in 29:16.49.

"I'm thrilled, there's nothing like finishing up at nationals out in Oregon," Bennie said. "It means a lot to be able to do it four times and I'm looking forward to having my teammates with me with some of the steeple and 5k guys we have lined up tomorrow and Saturday."

See you in Eugene!! @colin_bennie takes 7th in the 10k and gets a spot in the NCAA Final

A post shared by Syracuse Cross Country & Track (@suxctf) on May 24, 2018 at 7:41pm PDT

Iliass Aouani finished 21st, crossing the line in 30:07.50 after hanging in the lead pack until less than five laps remained. Dominic Hockenbury finished in 34th, with a time of 30:52.22, followed by Joe Dragon in 41st place (31:03.36) and Kevin James finished in 43rd (31.14.83). While those four didn't qualify for Eugene, the future looks bright for the Orange, as Aouani and James are sophomores and Hockenbury and Dragon are in their redshirt freshman seasons.

In the 100-meter dash, it was another freshman making her NCAA debut. Imani Clark finished in 11.78 seconds to take 46th. She has a quick turnaround, racing in the 200-meter first round with teammate Dasia Pressley on Friday at 3:25 p.m.

Other 'Cuse action will feature the 110-meter hurdles first round at Noon, featuring Angelo Goss, Matt Moore, Richard Floyd and David Gilstrap. Tia Thevenin will race in the 100-meter hurdles at 12:30 p.m. Then four members of the Orange will look to punch their tickets to join Bennie in Eugene in the steeple. Noah Affolder and Aidan Tooker will race at 8 p.m., followed by top-seed Paige Stoner and Sydney Leiher at 8:40 p.m.

All that action can be watched live on FloTrack.