By: by Scott Lipsky
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GREENSBORO, N.C.- Kennesaw State junior Mackenzie Howe ran in her first-ever NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship event on Thursday evening, placing 20th in the 10,000 Meters in the East Region National Semifinals with a time of 36:04.17 at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.
Howe, who won the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in the 10,000 Meters with a championship-record time of 35:16.96, fell short of the top-12 finish needed to get into the national finals in the event, which will be held in Eugene, Ore., on June 9. The time she ran at the A-Sun Championship would have placed her 11th on Thursday evening.
The race produced predictably slower times than the competitors achieved to get into the event, as all 48 qualifiers ran in the same heat, making it more difficult to find open spots to run on the track. Despite coming in with a time that was over 47 seconds off her qualifying time, she still finished 12 spots higher than her number 32 seed in the event.
“I think she ran a first good half of the race, but it didn’t seem like she was able to get that comfortable, running with that many people on the track at the same time,” said Kennesaw State distance coach Stan Sims about Howe, who also won the A-Sun title in the 5000 Meters two weeks ago. “It’s disappointing, since she came here to move on to the finals, but when we look at it, this is still her second best time in the 10,000 meters behind what she did at the A-Sun Championships. We have to put that into perspective and really appreciate what she was able to do to here, especially when you consider that she had two championship-winning efforts just two weeks back. It was a good experience for her.”
This is the second top-20 finish for Howe in a regional round of an NCAA championship. Back in November, she placed 18th in the NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Kennesaw State women continue their first-ever appearance at an NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Saturday, when Jill Arthur competes in the Triple Jump beginning at 4:00 p.m. Live scoring and video streaming is available throughout the weekend.
NCAA Women's Outdoor Championships- Kennesaw State
Saturday, May 29:
4:00 p.m.- Triple Jump- Jill Arthur
