Thornton-Fillyaw Runs Fastest Time in NCAA 800 Prelims, Qualifies for Finals

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Sophomore Tanise Thornton-Fillyaw of the Goucher College women's outdoor track and field team ran the fastest time in the 800 preliminaries at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Friday at Doug Shaw Stadium.  Thornton-Fillyaw lowered her own program and Landmark Conference records in the process, running a time of 2:08.35 over two laps.

Thornton-Fillyaw, running in the third of three heats, sprinted out to an early lead and ran an opening 1:02.52, the quickest opening lap out of 22 competitors.  She never relinquished the lead and finished in 2:08.35, besting Danielle Schultz of Washington University-St. Louis, who clocked a 2:09.07, the second-fastest time in the preliminaries.

Emma Kelley of WashU, the defending 800-meter outdoor champion and the indoor 800 champion earlier this season, won heat #2 with a time of 2:10.29.  Megan Bell of the University of Rochester won the first heat with a time of 2:11.09.

Thornton-Fillyaw is one of two Landmark Conference competitors in the eight-runner 800-meter final.  Kelty Oaster, the Landmark 800 champion, qualified with a time of 2:10.51.

Saturday's 800-meter final is scheduled to begin at 5:50 pm and can be seen on NCAA.com.

Photo courtesy Susquehanna University athletic communications