Senior Avery Ewing finishes 9th in the 800-Meter Run on the final day of NCAA III Outdoor Track & Field Championships
By Tim Glon
| NCAA III Outdoor Track & Field Championships page |
GENEVA — Senior Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) finished ninth out of 11 runners in 2:14.59 in the finals of the 800-meter dash on a hot Saturday afternoon on the final day of the 2019 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the SPIRE Institute.
She was just one spot shy of earning All-America honors, missing eighth place by 2.36 seconds.
Ewing was 10th after the opening lap of 1:04.62 and ran the seventh-fastest second lap in the field at 1:09.97, but was only able to move up one spot into ninth place.
She was seeded 21st out of 22 runners in the event entering the meet.
"Avery was great again today," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "The field went out very fast in the first lap and she did a great job of staying with them. It was tough to close strong due to the heat and the fast first lap, but she was still faster that four in the field in the last 400 meters. I know she is disappointed to finish one spot away from All-America, but two weeks ago she was ranked 50th nationally and wound up ninth at the NCAA Championships. This was a great way to close out her career."
Ewing advanced to the finals after winning an appeal in her preliminary race on Friday. She finished third of eight runners in her heat, was 10th of 22 runners overall and was just .11 of a second off her personal best time of 2:13.47.
As the top two finishers from each of the three heats plus the next three best times were scheduled to advance to the finals, Ewing was initially one spot shy of qualifying for the finals.
She was at the back of the pack after the first lap but passed five runners in the final 400 meters despite getting bumped out two lanes entering the final straightaway.
The Ohio Northern coaching staff protested the race as Ewing was impeded and was forced out into lane four down the stretch.
That protest was upheld and Ewing was allowed into the finals along with another runner that was also impeded, resulting in an 11-woman final on Saturday at 1:50 p.m.
She had originally missed qualifying for the finals by just .54 of a second.
The top eight in each event earn All-America honors.
On Thursday, junior two-time All-American Maggie Krause (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) competed in the women's pole vault. She missed on her three attempts at the opening height of 3.50 meters and did not place in the event.
