OSU Track - Masterson Breaks School Record; Qualifies for 1,500m Final

Masterson will run in the finals of the 1,500-meters this afternoon at 1:15 p.m.

Freshman Casey Masterson Courtesy: barometer.orst.edu

EUGENE, Ore. - Freshman Casey Masterson broke her own school record in the 1,500-meters, qualifying for the finals with a time of 4:25.81 at the Pacific-10 track and field Championships Saturday at University of Oregon's Hayward Field.

Masterson finished in fifth place out of nine runners in the first heat of the 1,500-meters preliminaries and ran the fifth fastest time out of 17 runners in the two heats. Masterson broke her previous record by more than a second that she set at the Woody Wilson Open April 11.

Casey ran in the fastest heat of the day and really performed well against four runners that each could be expected to win the 1,500, head coach Kelly Sullivan said. ?She just ran really. We're very pleased with her effort.

Four out of five years, we've had at least one person make the final in the 1,500. That has been really fun for our program and we're excited Casey can take us there again this year.

Sophomore Abby Chesimet finished seventh in heat 2 of the 1,500-meters preliminaries with a time of 4:38.38. Senior Holly Thomson, running in her final collegiate race, finished just behind Chesimet in eighth with a time of 4:43.83.

This was Holly's last race in what has been a great career for her, Sullivan said. She came to Oregon State running 4:56 in high school. She has dropped her PR down to 4:32 since she has been here. That is tough to do. I am proud of how she has run for us.

In her first Pac-10 Championship race, Abby really handled it well today. We moved her down to the 1,500-meters after running five and 10k's. She has made some great progress and we are very optimistic with where she is headed in this event.

In the 10,000-meters sophomore Hannah Soza-Hodgkinson finished 16th overall and senior Rebecca Mishler wrapped up her college career finishing 17th running times of 38:15.80 and 38:57.86 respectively.

As a true walk-on to our program, Rebecca has done great things, Sullivan said. This fall, she stepped in at the no. 5 spot for us in cross country and ran great at the conference and regional meet. She helped us make the two highest finishes we've ever had. She never had a chance to run Pac-10s and we made the decision to give her the opportunity. It wasn?t her best day but she'll always be able to say she ran at the conference meet.

Also, Hannah gained good experience in her first Pac-10 and really just saw what it?s all about. She'll be motivated for this summer's training and move on a year from now and improve as a runner.

Masterson will run in the finals of the 1,500-meters tomorrow afternoon at 1:15. Following Masterson will be sophomores Hayley Oveson, Marsha Lampi, Jennifer Macias and junior Krista Stangel in the 5,000-meters at 3:15. Chesimet will be a race time decision for the 5,000-meters.

Casey is running in a great field tomorrow, Sullivan said. She has earned her right to be in the final. It's probably the best 1,500 field in the country. It will be a great challenge and we're very excited for her.

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Oregon State Results: 1,500m (heat 1): 5. Casey Masterson 4:25.81. 1,500m (heat 2): 7. Abby Chesimet 4:38.38; 8. Holly Thomson 4:43.83. 10,000m: 16. Hannah Soza-Hodgkinson 38:15.80; 17. Rebecca Mishler 38.57.86.

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