USTFCCCA Champ Central | Results
EUGENE, ORE. – Cincinnati senior Loretta Blaut earned her second national runner-up finish of the year in the high jump after clearing 1.82 meters (5-11.5) to conclude the action at the NCAA Outdoor Championship hosted by the University of Oregon at historic Hayward Field on Saturday.
Blaut, who placed second at the national indoor championship, faced wet conditions throughout the event. She successfully cleared 1.73 and 1.78 meters before three jumpers were left in the field. Blaut missed on her first 1.82m attempt, but got over the bar on her third jump. No athlete could clear 1.85m, but Blaut landed in second place with UC Davis’ Erinn Beattie, due to misses. She earned first team All-America honors for her performance. A four-time conference champion and five-time All-America honoree, Blaut concludes a terrific career, as the conference’s record-holder in both the indoor and outdoor high jump. Blaut is just the second American Athletic Conference woman athlete to earn a trip to the podium in as many years, as Memphis’ Ashley Pryke placed third in the javelin throw in 2017.
Memphis senior runner Martina Rodriguez Sala closed her collegiate career with a second team All-America finish in the finals of the 1,500-meter run. Rodriguez Sala finished 12th in 4:22.08, as she concludes her career as a three-time conference champion and the conference’s all-time record-holder in the 1,500m, which she set on Thursday.
UConn sophomore thrower Divine Oladipo—this year’s USTFCCCA Northeast Region Field Athlete of the Year—finished 18th in the discus toss with her distance of 46.09 meters (151-2) to earn her second All-America nod of the meet. Oladipo placed 12th in the shot put on Thursday to earn second team All-America honors.
With the conclusion of the meet, The American’s women’s athletes combined for 10 top-16 finishes (first or second-team All-America honors), as the historic 2018 track and field season has come to a close.