May 29, 2009
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vanderbilt’s Rita Jorgensen clocked her second fastest 1500-meter time of the season in one of the biggest stages of her collegiate career to advance to Saturday’s 1500 meter finals for the second consecutive season at the NCAA Mideast Regionals. The top-five finishers of Saturday’s 1500 final will advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
“I was very pleased with Rita’s effort today,” distance coach Steve Keith said. “I thought Rita had a very good frame of mind going into the race and it showed. She handled the fast early pace well and ran in the top 4-5 places as we planned.”
Jorgensen easily advanced to tomorrow’s final with a blistering 4:24.95, good for fifth place in her heat. The Memphis, Tenn. native was in the faster of the two preliminary heats and held a time of 2:18 through the first 800 meters of the race. Jorgensen’s mark was faster than other time recorded in the second heat.
The top four of each heat in addition to the next best four times clinched a spot in tomorrow afternoon’s final.
“Tomorrow is the opportunity that we’ve been working towards all season,” said Keith. “Making the final last year was a great experience so this year we’ll set our sights on the top-five. She is really looking forward to tomorrow’s finals.
Live results of the 2009 Mideast Regional will be available via uoflsports.com or by clicking here.
A recap and results of Friday’s 1500-meter finals will be posted on vucommodores.com following the conclusion of competition.
Friday Prelim Results
1500 Meter Run – 9. Rita Jorgensen, 4:24.95*
* finished fifth in her heat
