Jesien Advances to Finals of 1500m at NCAA Championships

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Junior Andrew Jesien raced in the preliminaries of the 1500m run Thursday evening at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa and advanced to the finals after finishing 11th. Jesien crossed the line in seventh of his heat in a personal-best time of 3:43.66 to take 11th overall. This is Jesien’s first trip to the NCAA Championships, where the 2008 ACC Champion in the 1500m will compete in Saturday’s finals for a national championship. The race is slated to begin at 4:24 p.m. CST.

In the 10,000m finals, senior All-American Emily Harrison led a trio of Virginia runners with a 12th-place finish in 34:48.19, while classmate Katie Read finished 14th with a time of 35:15.47. Kara Scanlin, due to injury, did not finish the race.

Sophomore Meghan Briggs also competed for the first time at the national championships today in the javelin. Briggs finished 13th in her flight with a throw of 44.64m to take 25th overall. Briggs was the 2008 ACC Champion in the javelin.

All-American’s Yemi Ayeni and Billie-Jo Grant will compete in the finals of the discus tomorrow evening. Ayeni’s finals are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. CST, while Grant’s will begin at 5:30 p.m. CST.