Curit & Borofski Complete on Day One of NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships


Sophomore Nicole Borofski advanced to Friday's final for the steeplechase, placing seventh in her heat and 11th overall. (PHOTO BY Kevin Sielaff)

Borofski qualifies for Friday's 3000m steeplechase final
Curit places 18th in long jump finals
 

ALLENDALE, Mich. (May 21, 2015) – Sophomore Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) qualified for tomorrow's final in the 3000-meter steeplechase and senior All-American Maria Curit (Biddeford, Maine/Biddeford) competed in her first of two events on day one of the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Grand Valley State University and the West Michigan Sports Commission, at Grand Valley State Track & Field Stadium today.

Borofski, making her debut at the NCAA Outdoor Championships after competing in two events at the Indoor Championships in March, qualified for Friday's final for the 3000-meter steeplechase with her time of 10:38.76 in placing seventh in the second of the two preliminary sections this evening. Her time ranks 11th overall out of the 20 combined competitors in the two heats from which the top four finishers and next four fastest times overall advanced to the final tomorrow.


Senior All-American Maria Curit placed 18th in the long jump with a distance of 18-feet, 1.50-inches. (PHOTO BY Kevin Sielaff)

Borofski, the Northeast-10 Conference steeplechase champion, came out strong in her section and held a big lead during the first lap before falling back into the pack for the second lap. She sat back in third until running fourth as the heat crossed the five and a half minute mark. Borofski remained in the lead pack of five runners with three and a half laps to go, holding onto fifth with a lap to go before finishing seventh. Hillsdale College junior Emily Oren won the second section in 10:30.14, while Western Washington University senior Katelyn Steen posted the top qualifying time of 10:25.32 in winning the first heat.

Curit competed in the long jump final for the first time in four overall NCAA Championships appearances earlier in the day on Thursday. She placed 18th with her distance of 18-feet, 1.50-inches on her first of three attempts, fouling on the second and third leaps. Tarleton State University senior Euphemia Edern won the event championship with a distance of 21-6.25.

Curit is seeded second for the 800-meter run and will compete in the prelims for that event on day two of the NCAA Championships on Friday at 6 p.m. The top two runners from each of the three heats, plus the next three fastest times overall, will advance to Saturday's final. Curit will run in the second of the three qualifying heats tomorrow.

Borofski will run in tomorrow's 3000-meter steeplechase final at 7:15 p.m., with the top eight earning All-America honors. Live results and live video links are available at www.ncaa.com and www.stonehillskyhawks.com.

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