Senior Jamie Ashcroft won her 200-meter heat and posted the sixth-fastest time in the preliminaries Friday to highlight UAA's performances at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama.
Ashcroft clocked 24.15 seconds, just .08 off her personal best overall and .06 off her indoor personal record. She advanced to Saturday's final.
On a relatively light day for the Seawolves, who competed in three events, Caroline Kurgat's charging final leg nearly brought UAA's women's team to All-America status in the distance medley relay. UAA finished ninth, one spot out of All-America recognition, in 11:36.55. That placed the Seawolves just .53 behind eighth-place Seattle Pacific — both schools compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Tamara Perez led off UAA with a 3:35.15 in the 1,200 meters, which put the Seawolves eighth at the baton exchange. Mary-Kathleen Cross' 57.32 for 400 meters put the Seawolves in ninth and Danielle McCormick's 2:19:42 in the 800 dropped them to 13th, last place.
But Kurgat's 4:44.68 for 1,600 meters pushed her past four runners and ranked as the fifth-fastest time in the field.
UAA senior Travis Turner, who was tied for 12th in the men's heptathlon after Thursday's first day of competition, finished 10th with 5,119 points in the seven-event grind. That left him just 41 points removed from All-America status.
Turner finished fourth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.37), fifth in the pole vault (13 feet, 11-.25 inches) and fifth in the 1,000 meters (2:45.83) to improve his overall position.
The meet wraps Saturday, when the Seawolves compete in six events.