Junior All-American Christian Goy advanced to Saturdays finals of the mens 1,500 meters and Stacia Beste finished 15th in the finals of the womens 10,000 meters for the Illinois State Track and Field Teams at the NCAA Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Ore.
Goy finished third in his heat with a time of 3:43.88, giving him the seventh best time in Thursdays semifinals. Goy, who is a three-time Missouri Valley Conference champ in the 1,500 and placed 12th at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championship, is one of 12 student-athletes to advance to Saturdays finals.
Chirstiian has struggled with allergies all week, but he ran like a champ and looked good today, head coach Jeff Pigg said. Hes got a day to rest up before the finals and hell be ready to go on Saturday.
Beste placed 15th in the finals of the womens 10,000 meters with a time of 36:13.17. Entering competition with the 20th best time in the nation, Beste finished less than three seconds behind South Floridas Tara Quinn for 14th and 17.5 seconds ahead of Virginias Dana Coons who finished 16th.
She started out in 20th and moved up as high as 8th and looked tremendous for a while there, Pigg said. Stacia was dehydrated after the race and had to receive an IV, but shes fine. She managed to hold on for 15th and I was impressed with the way she kept competing.
Its been real humid in Oregon this week and I think that played a factor, but Stacia (Beste) and Christian (Goy) were able to fight through that and turn in real strong efforts today, Pigg said.
The Redbirds continue at the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships Friday, June 1, when Kathrine Nielsen competes in first day action of the womens heptathlon. Nielsen will participate in the 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters on Friday. Nielsen will complete action in the heptathlon on Saturday and will also participate in the high jump. Goy will return to action on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. in the finals of the mens 1,500 meters.
