Catherine White hits 5K auto time

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas Razorback women’s track and field picked up one new and two improved NCAA qualifiers at the Last Chance meet at the Randal Tyson Track Center Friday night.

Sophomore Catherine White won the 5,000 meters with an NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 16:07.50. Her time is a personal best by seven seconds, automatically qualifies her for next week’s NCAA Championships, ranks tied for 12th in the NCAA and is the No. 5 time on the Arkansas all-time list.

"What a great run for Catherine," head coach Lance Harter said. "She stayed strong and kept her form. It’s great to see her get into the national meet so we can see what she is capable at that level. Denise (Bargiachi) also ran pretty well. She got a PR and improved her qualifier, that’s all we can ask for. I think she is on the bubble right now."

Senior Denise Bargiachi was right behind White in the 5K race. She finished second with a time of 16:15.65. Her time is a personal best, an improved NCAA provisional qualifier and ranks No. 18 on the NCAA list.

Sophomore Tara Diebold also got a personal best. She finished second in the pole vault with a clearance of 13-8.25. Her height is a career best, is an improved NCAA provisional mark and ranks No. 13 on the NCAA list.

"Tara did a great job of really competing tonight," Harter said. "She knew what she had to clear to get to the national meet and I think she did it. And it’s a personal best for her. If she gets in, we’ll have three very strong vaulters in the NCAA meet when she joins up with Katie Stripling and Tina Sutej."

The accepted entries for the NCAA Championships will be released Mon., March 9 at 8 p.m. CST. For more information, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Download: CompiledResults.pdf