Feigt Qualifies for NCAA Championships

Saturday, May 26

Eugene, Ore.

All Day

University of Utah

NCAA West Regional

5/26/2007 12:00 AM | Track & Field

May 26, 2007

EUGENE, Ore. -- University of Utah track and field standout Amanda Feigt qualified for the NCAA Championships here at the West Regional meet this afternoon. Feigt punched her ticket to the big meet in the event finals of the 400m hurdles with a time of 58.67. She finished fifth and claims the last automatic qualifying time.

Feigt ran a lifetime best in today's 400m hurdles by nearly eight-tenths of a second. This is Feigt's second trip to the NCAA Championships, making it to last year's meet also in the 400m hurdles.

Teammate Chelsea Shapard qualified for today's finals and battled a shin injury to finish seventh with a time of 1:00.17. Shapard may still receive an at-large bid as she entered this week ranked among the top 30 400m hurdlers in the nation.

Feigt's four points and Shapard's two points were the lone tallies for Utah in today's scored meet. Utah finishes the meet in 22nd place.

"This was a great meet for us all the way around," said head coach Kyle Kepler. "We know we have one athlete going on but we look forward to the selection show early next week and we're hopeful that we will be taking more than one Utah competitor to the NCAA Championships."

Also competing today were Utah's two pole vaulters. Mandie Rowell finished in 31st place with a 12-0 vault. Susan Atwater didn't clear the opening height.

"Susan had three solid attempts at the opening height," notes Kepler. "And, I couldn't be happier for Mandie. She came in with an injury and overcame a lot, mentally and physically, to end her career on a very positive note."

Like Shapard, Feigt may also receive at-large invites but in the long jump and in the heptathlon. At-large bids will be handed out on Tuesday, May 29th, at 1 p.m. (MDT).

The championship meet is in Sacramento, Calif., on June 6-9. Sacramento State is the event's host institution.