Arizona Wildcat junior Shannon Meisberger ran her personal-best time of 55.70 seconds Saturday to finish second in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Meisberger sprinted to the finish line after the 10th hurdle to beat Andrenette Knight of Virginia. Her time was almost a second faster than her previous best. Anna Cockrell of USC won in 54.68.
“I am so impressed with Shannon,” said head coach Fred Harvey in a news release. “She’s put in the work all year long and has 100% believed in the system and in herself. She was able to make the in-race adjustments needed in order to excel.”
Wildcat junior Lillian Lowe cleared 5-11 1/4 in the high jump but missed at 6-1/2, giving her ninth place. Sophomore Skylar Sieben had strong performances in the heptathlon but could not overcome the deficit she faced after failing to clear the opening height Friday in the high jump.
USC repeated as the women’s team champion with 74 points, followed by Texas A&M (63), Georgia (37.5), North Carolina A&T (31) and Alabama (31). ASU was ninth with 22 points and Arizona tied for 30th with 10 points, the same score and standing that the UA men's team finished with Friday.
“We missed on some performances,” Harvey said. “Every athlete that felt like they should’ve scored would tell you the same thing. Regardless, I’m extremely proud of all the athletes on our team. It was such an interesting year, running three seasons at one time. The biggest takeaway is that we were able to navigate through it and stay healthy. The future is huge for us. Almost everyone at this meet is young and returning next year and they now have a taste of what it’s like to compete at this level.
