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Grimm, Shapard to Compete at NCAA Championships
6/3/2009 12:00 AM | Track & Field
June 3, 2009
2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Schedule 
SALT LAKE CITY - Senior Chelsea Shapard and junior Sarah Grimm will represent the University of Utah track and field team next week at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., at John McDonnell Field, June 10-13. Shapard earned an automatic bid in the 400-meter hurdles while Sarah Grimm gained an at-large bid in the hammer throw.
"This is [Shapard's] third time at this meet," Utah head coach Kyle Kepler said. "She knows what is expected of her and she has been able to improve each time she has been there. Her goal is to make it to Friday's final, but she's going to have to come up with near-perfect performances in the first two rounds. It's going to be brutally tough and it will probably come down to hundredths of a second. Every hurdle and every step is going to be important."
Shapard earned her third consecutive NCAA Championships bid with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdle event with a time of 58.37 seconds. Shapard's performance earned five points for the Utes in the team standings. The Park City, Utah, native was stationed in second place overall after the preliminaries with a time of 58.54 seconds to win her respective heat.
Shapard, who has also won the Mountain West Conference championship in the event each of the last three seasons, is aiming to continue improving and earn a top-eight finish to give her All-American recognition for the first time in her career. In 2008, Shapard finished 15th in the nation in a semifinal heat with a time of 59.19 seconds, after starting in the inside lane of the second heat at Drake University. Shapard won her first-round heat with a time of 59.61. Shapard took third (59.12) in the west regional final.
During her first NCAA Championships appearance in 2007, Shapard finished 18th with a time of 59.49 seconds in the meet held at Sacramento State.
The first round of the 400-meter hurdles at the national meet will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT on June 10. Semifinal heats on June 11 will start at 6:45 p.m. CT, followed by the final heat June 12 at 7:55 p.m. CT.
Grimm gained an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships with a 10th-place finish (187'4") in the hammer throw at the West Regional meet putting her in the at-large pool. Grimm earned the bid to the national championships thanks to her season-best mark and is listed 14th on the NCAA's accepted entry list heading into the meet, with a mark of 198' 11".
"This will be Grimm's first time at the NCAA Championships, so our goal for her will be to make it to the final round," Kepler said. "As a junior, this will be a great opportunity for her to gain some experience, so we want her to compete and try to get a season-best mark. Grimm struggled at the regional meet, but still managed to get through it and advance. That's the sign of a good competitor. Hopefully she'll learn from her experience at the regional and take advantage of this opportunity."
The qualifying round of the hammer throw will take place at 1 p.m. CT on June 10 with the final round taking place June 12 at 11 a.m. CT.
For up-to-date information on the NCAA Track and Field Championships, please check here.
Players Mentioned
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