June 9, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa - On the final day of competition at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, the Hoyas had two events on the schedule. Without a cloud in the sky and the temperature creeping up to 84 degrees on the track, All-American Emily Infeld (University Heights, Ohio/Beaumont) put up an NCAA Runner-Up performance today in the women's 1,500-meter finals.
In one of the closest races of the day, less than one second separated the top five finishers in the women's 1,500. In such a talented a field, the pack was able to stick together while still putting up fast times on the day. Infeld stayed toward the front for the majority of the race, running on the rail and being sure to not get trapped on the inside. With 200 meters to go, everyone dropped the hammer with Washington's Katie Flood taking the lead in front of a hometown crowd for the Des Moines native. Coming off the final turn, Infeld took the inside, to the left of Flood while Oregon's Jordan Hasay was to the right of Flood. The trio pushed until the very end with Flood taking the win with a time of 4:13.79. Just one hundredth of a second was all Infeld needed to edge out Hasay as Infeld finished second with a time of 4:14.02 with Hasay clocking in at 4:14.03. The remainder of the top five finished with times of 4:14.40 (Lucy Van Dalen, Stony Brook) and 4:14.76 (Greta Feldman, Princeton).
This is Infeld's third runner-up finish in an NCAA event with the first two coming from the 2010 NCAA Cross Country Championships when a mere 2.8 seconds separated Infeld from Villanova's Sheila Reid. The second would again to be Reid at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000-meter run.
All-American Madeline Chambers (Rocky River, Ohio/Magnificat) was in the finals of the women's 5,000-meter run and held strong through the first 3,000-meters. She stayed with the lead pack but with 1,600 meters to go, the lead pack started to really push it and it spread thin. Chambers pulled up out of the race and did not finish.
The Hoyas have completed the NCAA portion of the schedule but a small contingent of Hoyas will continue through the open outdoor season with USA Junior Track & Field Championships as well as the Olympic Trials to end June.
