Sports - Local Colleges

POSTED: Saturday, May. 24, 2008

COLLEGE TRACK AND FIELD: Lemay in 800 final

WALNUT, Calif. — Western Washington University’s Keith Lemay advanced to the men’s 800 meters final, finishing second in a preliminary heat Friday at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships. The three-day meet ends today. Lemay, who was a late addition after a pair of injury withdrawals, advanced to today’s final after running a personal-best time of 1:51.33, the third-fastest in school history. He was an automatic qualifier as the top two placers in all three heats advanced along with the next three fastest times. “He finished strong, sprinting it in on the home stretch,” said Western coach Pee Wee Halsell. Lemay finished the regular season ranked 20th nationally with a provisional qualifying time of 1:52.29. He originally missed the 19-man field by 0.02 seconds. In the women’s pole vault, Western’s Christy Miller was unable to clear the opening height of 11-10 1/2. “She looked good in warm-ups, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes,” Halsell said. Earlier this season, Miller set a school record with a mark of 12-3 1/2. During the winter, Miller established a WWU indoor standard of 12-4 1/2 and placed 12th (11-7 3/4) at the indoor nationals. In all, three Vikings will compete in finals today. Besides Lemay, Western’s Monika Gruszecki defends her national title in the women’s javelin and Heidi Dimmitt runs in the women’s 400 hurdles final. In opening-day action Thursday, the Vikings’ Sarah Porter placed ninth in the women’s 10,000 meters, breaking her own school record with a 36:11.17 clocking.