Track & Field - at NCAA Championships
Ritter All-American
In Steeplechase Finals Saturday
EUGENE, OREGON—Senior Emily Ritter (Millsboro, Delaware/Sussex Tech) of the Rider University track and field team ran 9:55.88 and finished second in her heat and seventh overall in the semifinals of the 3000 meter steeplechase, earning All-America honors and qualifying for the finals on Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
“This is a very exciting moment for Emily and for Rider University,” said head coach Bob Hamer who participated at nationals in the 1500 meter while running at Penn State in 1994. “She was feeling some pressure about representing everyone out here but handled it beautifully. She executed the race plan perfectly, staying near the front and out of trouble. I'm most excited about how she finished the last 1,000 meters. We've been working on that for the last few weeks.”
“I wasn't thinking about Saturday during the race today,” Ritter said. “I just focused on today's race and now my thoughts can shift.”
The top five finishers from each of two heats plus the next two best times advanced to the finals which will be Saturday June 13th at 5:27pm (ET).
“The turnaround is something we prepared for,” Hamer said. “We are going to refuel, rehydrate and recover and take tonight to enjoy the moment. Tomorrow we'll have fun and then prepare for Saturday.”
“At the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships and the Penn Relays, I had quick turnarounds,” Ritter added. “I'm feeling good about Saturday.”
The top eight finishers are awarded First Team All-America honors and the second eight are Second Team All-Americans with Ritter one of 12 runners advancing to the finals.
Rider had never had an All-American in the track & field program until Ritter clinched that status tonight and she is only the fourth female in Rider history to earn that accolade. Deanna Dovak (softball) and Virginia Egusquiza (field hockey) and Sandra Penas (field hockey) previously earned All-America status for the Broncs.
“It has sunk in that we get to keep this ride going,” Hamer said. “We aren't ready for this to end and it's going to be a fun few days.”
Ritter is the first woman from the Bronc track & field program and just the third athlete ever from the Rider track & field program, to compete in the NCAA Championships.
Ritter qualified for Nationals in the 3,000m steeplechase, an event that she never competed in before last year.
The first time she competed in the steeplechase she won the 2014 Rider Invitational. The second time she ran it she broke the Rider record and placed second at 2014 MAAC Championships. She went on to break her own steeplechase record at the 2014 ECAC Championships to qualify for the NCAA East Regional in Florida last spring.
This year Ritter ran a personal record 9:54.34 at the NCAA Regional May 29 in Jacksonville, Florida, when she also placed second in her heat and seventh (of 47) overall to qualify for Eugene.
Earlier this spring she compiled a 9:55.15 clocking at the ECAC Championships to place second and earn All-East honors.
Ritter was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the MAAC Outdoor Championships this spring after winning the steeplechase and placing second in both the 1500m and the 5,000m.
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