Eldridge Falls, Fails to Advance in the 1500 at the World Junior Meet

NORMAN, Okla. -- OU sophomore-to-be Jessica Eldridge will not compete in the 1500 meter run final of the 10th International Association of Athletics Federations at the Olympic Stadium in Grosseto, Italy, after falling in the final 300 meters of the semifinal on Friday.

Eldridge finished last in her heat with a 4:36.48.

Placed in the first heat, the pace of the first race was a slow one as the field went through the first 400 meters in 78 seconds and through the first 800 in 2:30. Eldridge adjusted to the pace and was with the leaders throughout the race. She was in the lead pack of runners as they approached the final 300 meters. Eldridge stepped out to head to the front and another runner followed. The Sooner sophomore tripped over the second runner and fell to the track. She got up but the sprint for the finish had begun, leaving her behind.

“It was a real misfortune for Jessica,” said Rodney Rothoff, her event coach at OU. “She was with the leaders, was in a position to sprint to the finish and get in the top four be an automatic qualifier for Sunday's final. And then she fell. By the time she got up, the leaders were kicking to the finish line.”

Eldridge had the seventh best time in the field when comparing times recorded in 2004 and the eighth best time when career best times were compared. Her career best in the event, a 4:18.30, came at the Georgia Tech Invitational in mid May. The time was the second best in school history and the best time in a 1500 for a Sooner freshman in school history.

The winning time in her heat today was 4:24.43 and the last qualifying time for Sunday's final was a 4:26.56.

Eldridge won the U.S. Junior National title in the 1500 on June 27, making her the first Sooner to compete in the Junior Worlds as the U.S. national champion. She ran a 4:21.13 to win the national title by more than two seconds. She also won the 1500 at the NCAA Midwest Regional on May 29 with a 4:24.33.

Her trip to Italy and the World Junior meet capped off an incredible freshman year that saw her earn All-Big 12 and All-NCAA Midwest Regional honors in cross country on her way to the NCAA Championships, the first Sooner freshman to qualify since 1994. She then qualified for the NCAA Indoor in the mile after finishing seventh in the Big 12 Indoor in the 800. She competed in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 1500 after posting qualifying times in the 800, 1500 and 5,000. She won the Big 12 outdoor title in the 800 in early May. That win made her the first Sooner woman to win a Big 12 outdoor title in a running event and was OU's first conference title in the 800 since 1984 when former Sooner All-American Annette Campbell won the 800 in the Big Eight meet.

She was named the Big 12's Oustanding Freshman Woman Performer in outdoor track and field following the Big 12 meet in May.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Eldridge Falls, Fails to Advance in the 1500 at the World Junior Meet

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