VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's 4x800-metre relay team won gold today at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Marion, Indiana.
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The team of
Heather Slinn (Ottawa, ON),
Tamara Harris (New Westminster, BC),
Devan Wiebe (Vancouver, BC) and
Maria Bernard (Calgary, AB) dominated the race and crossed the finish line in 8:58.32, more than three seconds ahead of Oklahoma Baptist.
The Thunderbirds took the lead early in the first leg with Slinn carrying the baton but it was Harris' second leg that made the difference in the race. She completed her two laps in 2:12.4 to give UBC a commanding advantage that no other team could close. Wiebe and Bernard closed out the run to give UBC gold.
At last year's NAIA meet, UBC took silver while Oklahoma Baptist won gold.
In other women's events today in Marion,
Joy Spear Chief-Morris (Lethbridge, AB) was second in her 100m heat after finishing in 11.82 seconds. She will get to run in the event final later today.
Wiebe also qualified for the 800m final after taking second in her preliminary heat in 2:14.74. Harris was fourth in the same heat (2:15.79) but won't be racing in the final.
Catharine Farish (Kingston, ON) placed sixth in her heat (2:15.58) and will not advance to the next round.
Julia Hawkins (West Vancouver, BC) was 16th in the women's triple jump with a best attempt of 10.99m.
On the men's side,
Ivan Staeheli (Mission, BC) earned All-American status after finishing fifth in the decathlon by scoring 6689 points. He won the javelin event and ran a personal-best 4:37.79 in the 1500m. In the other events today, Staeheli was 11th in the 110m hurdles, sixth in the discus and 12th in the pole vault.
Luc Bruchet (White Rock, BC), who was named to the Canadian squad for the 2013 Summer Universiade today, ran a controlled 5000m race to finish third in 14:56.23 and earn a spot in tomorrow's final. Teammate Will Cliff (Vancouver, BC) was 12th in the same heat (15:19.28) and will not move on.
David Slade (Delta, BC) was 25th in the preliminaries of the men's 800m with a time of 1:58.74.
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