TicketsJune 8, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa - University of Cincinnati distance runner Kathy Klump (Aurora, Ind./South Dearborn) earned All-America honors Wednesday in the women's 800-meter race at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium.
Klump registered a time of 2 minutes, 5.46 seconds in the semifinals of the 800m, which placed her 12th out of 24 participants. She broke her own UC record of 2:6.12, previously set at the NCAA East Regionals in Bloomington, Ind. on May 26., and was the highest placed BIG EAST athlete in the 800m.
"We are so proud of Kathy running the best race of her life on this big stage," said Susan Seaton, UC women's track and field head coach. "She is a great competitor and through hard work and a gutsy performance became an All-American today."
University of Tennessee junior Channelle Price recorded a time of 2:02.84 to pace the eight final qualifiers. Klump was just 0.63 seconds behind North Carolina State University freshman Kenyetta Iyevbele, who earned the eighth and decisive spot in Friday's 800m final after recording a time of 2:04.83.
In addition to Klump, UC has two other student-athletes competing at this week's NCAA Championships.
Junior Terrence Somerville (Akron, Ohio/Buchtel) will run in the semifinals of the 110-meter hurdles at 8:10 p.m. ET Thursday. If Somerville advances past Friday, he'll race in Saturday's final, which is set to begin at 2:16 p.m. ET.
Junior Eric Finan (New Richmond, Ohio/New Richmond) is slated to run Saturday in the men's 5,000-meter run final, which is scheduled for a 2:21 p.m. start time.
The NCAA Track & Field Championships will be televised by CBS Sports Network on Friday from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET, and by CBS on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. The NCAA also will provide a live webcast available through NCAA.com on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.