Season Ends for Eldridge and Odell

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sophomores Jessica Eldridge and Catherine Odell did not advance to the final in the 1500-meter run after finishing 16th and 23rd respectively in the qualifying round Thursday night. Their qualifying race came on the second day of action at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex on the campus of Sacramento State University.

Eldridge was ranked 13th heading into the race and Odell was 24th. They were in the fastest of two heats and for the first 800 meters both appeared to have a good opportunity to advance to Saturday's final. Odell, who had been in the top eight through the first 800, began dropping back after 1000 meters. Eldridge stayed with the lead pack of runners through the start of the final lap. She was still among the leaders until the lead pack began a sprint for the finish line with 200 meters to go. She ultimately finished ninth in the heat with a 4:19.94 while Odell finished 12th in the heat with a 4:26.29.

The top four finishers in each of the two heats plus the next four fastest times advanced to the final. Three of the time qualifiers came from the second heat and the last time qualifier from the second heat had a time that was more than a second faster than the winning time in heat one.

The time for Eldridge was a season best by almost a second. For Odell, her time was the second best time of the season and her Sooner career.

“Jessica and Catherine are still learning to compete at this level and we will use this race as another learning experience,” said Sooner distance coach Rodney Rothoff. “Jessica continues to improve with every NCAA meet she competes in and Catherine put herself in a position through 800 meters to be successful. I am proud of the way they competed.

“Jessica was in a much better position in this race than she was last year and Catherine was dealing with the first time experience of competing at an NCAA meet. Every time you run at this level, you learn something and this was a good experience for both of them.”

On Friday, Sooners DaBryan Blanton (100) and Kevin Bookout (shot put) will compete in those event finals. Blanton is ranked second heading into the 100 final and Bookout is sixth. The top eight in each final earns All-America honors. Additionally, the top eight U.S. citizens are named All-Americans as well.

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