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Four Syracuse runners qualified for the NCAA Championships after their performances in the NCAA East Preliminary races. 

JP Trojan (28:59.47) became the first SU runner to qualify for nationals on Wednesday with a 10th-place finish in the men’s 10,000-meter. Although only the top 12 finishers qualified, Trojan had a 10-second cushion between him and the final qualifying spot. 

The Orange had four other runners in the preliminary, but none came close to qualifying. Senior Joe Dragon (30:02.39) finished 30th, Matthew Scrape (30:56.44) placed 40th and Silas Derfel (31:58.05) — one of just six freshmen in the race — came in 44th. Dominic Hockenbury did not finish. 

Syracuse continued its success in distance events with a strong performance in the women’s 10,000-meter on Thursday. Amanda Vestri (33:32.71) and Annie Heffernan (33:39.84) both placed in the top five to comfortably qualify for the NCAA Championships.  Coming into the meet, Vestri and Heffernan had the second- and seventh-best times in the region, respectively. Jordan Jacob (34:52.70) finished in 25th, and Abigail Spiers (36:17.27) finished last in 42nd. 

On Friday, SU’s Aidan Tooker overtook Michigan’s Christian Hubaker in the homestretch to secure an automatic qualifying spot by just .47 seconds in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a season-best time of 8:44.09. In 2018, Tooker took fourth place at the NCAA Championships, missing out on a podium spot by less than a second. A day later, Justus Holden-Betts (10:32.37) placed 30th in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

Simon Smith (3:51.23) participated in the men’s 1,500-meter on Wednesday but struggled to a 41st-place finish. Smith finished 11th in his heat, well short of the fourth-place finish he needed to move onto the quarterfinals on Friday. At the ACC Championships, Smith set a personal best with a time of 3:44.06 to qualify for the preliminary races. 

On Thursday, Shaleah Colaire (59.98) set a personal best in the women’s 400-meter hurdle but finished in 33rd, well outside the qualifying spots. Colaire was a late addition to the field and finished 15 places above her seed. 

Published on May 29, 2021 at 9:21 pm

Contact Connor: cpignate@syr.edu