June 13, 2014
EUGENE, Ore. - Freshman Kaitlyn Fischer closed out her stellar first year in the black and gold with a Missouri School Record and ninth-place finish in one of the fastest women's 10,000-meter runs in NCAA Championships history. She closed Thursday's events with a final time of 33:12.37 for Second Team All-American in the event.
"I didn't really set too many goals [going into the race], but in the back of my mind I knew where I wanted to be," Fischer said. "It's a really good feeling. It was my goal since the beginning of the year to break the 10k record, and to finally get it and being here in Eugene is just so awesome. I'm so blessed and am really excited for next year."
Fischer held on to the lead pack for the majority of the race, falling back when they separated with 2.5-miles to go. Despite being caught between the lead and chase packs during the final mile, she was able to continue gaining ground and kicked down ninth place in the final 100-meters.
Fischer entered the meet ranked 17th in the field with the No. 3 time in Mizzou history (34:08.50) from the Stanford Invitational. Her final time of 33:12.37 not only improves upon her PR by 56-seconds, but also surpasses Serena Ramsey in the Mizzou Record Books, whose 33:52.59 record has held since 2006.
"I am so proud of Kaitlyn! She ran a great race," Shaylee Marr, assistant coach in charge of the distance and mid-distance events, said. "All of her hard work and dedication really paid off tonight. She had a great freshman year and has a very bright future ahead of her."
Thus closes out an impressive debut season from the Herculaneum grad. She started the year leading the women's cross country team to their highest regional ranking since 2008 and a seventh-place finish at the SEC Championships. Finishing sixth overall for First Team All-SEC, Fischer earned the SEC Freshman of the Year Award before crossing in sixth for an All-Midwest Region honor. She qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, where she closed her season in 79th overall.
Fischer continued collecting accolades this spring, earning a spot on the All-SEC Freshman Team after taking fourth in the 10,000-meters at the conference championships. She now has the distinction of being the second-fastest freshman in the NCAA for 10,000-meters in a race that included the fastest top ten finishers and second-fastest winning time (32:28.57) in meet history.
Events continue tomorrow at Historic Hayward Field at 3:15 p.m. (PT) with senior Heather Green and junior Katrine Haarklau in the women's pole vault. For the latest on your Tigers, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
MEET INFO
USTFCCCA Meet Home | Meet Schedule | Live Results
Heat Sheets (Men | Women)
Events will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and ESPNU.
Friday (ESPNU): 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. PT
Saturday (ESPNU): 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. PT
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Women's Javelin - 15. Hailey Twietmeyer, 47.66m (156-4)
THURSDAY RESULTS
Women's 10,000m Run - 9. Kaitlyn Fischer, 33:12.37 SR
FRIDAY SCHEDULE (all times are in PT)
3:15 p.m. - Women's Pole Vault (Heather Green | Katrine Haarklau)
SATURDAY SCHEDULE (all times are in PT)
12:30 p.m. - Men's Triple Jump (Jonathan Ilori)
12:35 p.m. - Men's Javelin (Macauley Garton)
12:45 p.m. - Women's High Jump (Shinelle Proctor | Morgan Whitson)
1:00 p.m. - Women's Shot Put (Kearsten Peoples | Jill Rushin)