Wilt top Alaskan in NCAA steeplechasePublished on June 9th, 2010 By VAN WILLIAMS
The hottest day of the week melted Hallidie Wilt's championship hopes. Yet it didn't spoil her experience in her first trip to the NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships last week in Charlotte, N.C. The University of Alaska Anchorage junior from Unalaska competed in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and was the fastest Alaskan in the field. Wilt finished 15th out of 18 runners with a time of 10 minutes, 57.68 seconds in the preliminaries, helping her improve her national seeding by three places. As a bonus, she finished ahead of Seward's Denali Foldager of Cal State Stanislaus, who was 16th in 11:09.41 for top honors among runners from the 49th state. "It turned out alright I guess," Wilt said. "It was 90 degrees and humid; the hottest day of the week. It was kind of draining after a few laps." Wilt was the final qualifier in the national race and she made the most of her second chance. It was especially satisfying to get another opportunity to run after she had bombed at the conference meet. "It was a better race to finish my season with," she said. "Overall I had a good experience." It capped a sensational junior season that saw Wilt qualify for Nationals in both cross-country running and track and field. Even better was the fact her parents, Sinclair and Annabelle, were on hand to watch their daughter on the biggest stage of the year. Plus, they finally got to see the steeplechase in person. "It was nice to have my mom and dad here to cheer me on," she said. "I think they really enjoyed it. Hopefully seeing what the steeplechase is rather than just hearing about it and not fully understanding it. "I think they really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed having them here." Van Williams can be reached at vwilliams@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at 907-348-2452 or 800-770-9830, ext. 452 |
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