Three Arizona women β Karolina Pahlitzsch, Shannon Meisberger and Tatum Waggoner β and the Wildcatsβ 4x400 relay team failed Thursday to qualify for Saturdayβs finals at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Austin, Texas.
They had to finish in first or second in their preliminary heats, or have one of the two fastest times among runners who didnβt automatically qualify.
Pahlitzsch, a German-born redshirt senior, and Meisberger both ran in the second of three heats in the 400-meter hurdles. Pahlitzsch ran 57.28 seconds in the eventβs fastest heat. Her time, the seventh best overall in the event, was actually faster than two women who auto-qualified by placing first and second in the third heat.
Meisberger, a sophomore transfer from Georgetown, finished in sixth in the second heat in 58.75.
Waggoner, from Scottsdale, finished sixth in her heat of the 400-meter dash in 53.59.
An hour after their 400 hurdles race, Meisberger and Pahlitzsch teamed up with Waggoner and Salpointe Catholic grad Diana Gajda in the 4x400-meter relay. They had set a school record of 3:30.6 in the NCAA preliminaries two weeks ago, but finished sixth in their heat (3:34.14) Thursday.
Karla Teran, a junior from Nogales, Sonora, will compete Saturday in the high jump.
On Friday, Justice Summerset, a Mountain View grad, will be among 12 competitors in the high jump.
After qualifying for the menβs finals, James Smith and Bailey Roth will compete Friday with Smith in the 400-meter hurdles and Roth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Smith, a freshman from Mesa, set the school record on Wednesday by clocking 49.67. He finished third in his heat.
Roth, from Colorado Springs, ran the fifth-fastest time in the steeplechase heats on Wednesday, 8:46.28.
