SACRAMENTO, Calif. – South Dakota State’s Rachel King is heading back to the finals.
The senior from St. Michael, Minn., broke her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes, 50.15 seconds at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships West Preliminary on Friday night at Hornet Stadium.
She won her heat and placed sixth overall.
The top three finishers in each of the three heats plus the next three best times advanced.
Auburn’s Joyce Kimeli won the East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Fla., with a time of 9:52.49.
The NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships are June 5-8 at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
King was an All-America honorable mention in the event last year.
Her previous school record in the steeplechase was 9:54.44.
Jackrabbit sophomore Coby Hilton was sixth in his heat and 41st overall in the first round of the men’s 200-meter dash in 21.35 seconds. He ran the 100 on Thursday.
The three-day meet concludes today.
Kyle Burdick is scheduled to run in the 1,500 meters (8:45 p.m.) and 5,000 meters (10:45 p.m.) quarterfinals tonight. He qualified eighth in the first round of the 1,500 on Thursday.
There are two quarterfinal heats in both the 1,500 and 5,000, with the top five finishers from each heat plus the next two fastest times earning a spot in Austin, Texas.
Emmanual Phoulom-Smith, Hilton, Daniel Clark and Sam Zenner run in the 4x100-meter relay quarterfinals at 8:15 p.m. The top three teams in each of the three heats plus the next three fastest times advance.
