March 5, 2010
Fayetteville, Arkansas - Vashti Thomas improved her position on the national descending order list in the women's triple jump with a runner-up performance of 42-5.25 (12.93) at the Arkansas Final Qualifier meet on Friday.
Heading into the last chance meet with a season best of 42-1.25 (12.83), Thomas hit her mark in the sixth and final round at the Tyson Center, which will be the site of the NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend.
With her improvement, Thomas currently moves from 24th to 18th on the national list. Normally, there are around 16 to 18 athletes in the NCAA Championship field per each individual event. There will be a couple more last chance qualifying meets taking place over the weekend.
Michael Preble nearly matched his season best with a 47.36 for third place in the 400, finishing behind Michael Courtney of Sam Houston (46.46) and Baylor's Marcus Boyd (47.00).
In the 800 Oscar Ramirez and Joey Roberts placed second and third in the first race. Ramirez finished second overall with a season best of 1:50.12 while Roberts placed fifth with a 1:54.68. Ramirez went into the meet with a best of 1:50.30.
Sasha-Kay Matthias produced marks of 19-10.75 in the long jump and 41-0.5 in the triple jump, to place fifth and fourth in each event.