Men’s Track & Field Opens NCAA Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, June 8

Eugene, Ore.

TBA

Indiana University

NCAA Outdoor Championships

Men’s Track & Field Opens NCAA Outdoor Championships

6/8/2016 10:28:00 PM | Track and Field

Kuhn eclipses NCAA East Regional marks, notches ninth-fastest 800m time

EUGENE, Ore. – Five Indiana track & field athletes made the trek to TrackTown USA for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Historic Hayward Field. The week began on Wednesday evening with sophomore Daniel Kuhn in the men's 800m semifinals and freshman Willie Morrison in the men's shot put finals.

Kuhn launched the Hoosiers' week in Eugene in the first heat of the men's 800m semifinal round. The sophomore ran his fastest race in his first NCAA Outdoor postseason, but bowed out before he could make a run at the NCAA Finals. Kuhn earned a fifth-place finish in his heat with a time of 1:47.20, the ninth-fastest time in the 24-man semifinal field.

Getting out to a formidable start, Kuhn ran the first 400m in 54.27s and held fourth-place in his heat. In the final 200m of his second lap, Kuhn took off for one of his signature dramatic finishes, but it wasn't enough to pull ahead of the tough competition. Kuhn, however, finished his second lap in 52.39s, and his final time of 1:47.20 was faster than both of his NCAA East Regional heats.

Morrison made the initial throw of the men's shot put finals, setting the first mark with a distance of 18.69m (61' 4"). Unable to improve on his second throw, the true freshman needed to improve his mark by at least 0.3m to make the final nine-man cut. Morrison lined up his final attempt, but fouled on the throw. The initial throw was the 16^th-furthest distance in the preliminary round.

Up Next: Day 2 of the NCAA Track & Field Outdoor Championships
Thursday, June 9, 2016 • Beginning at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET)
Historic Hayward Field • Eugene, Ore.

The Hoosiers' trio of women's field athletes will hit the pit on Thursday afternoon. The dynamic throwing duo of Nakel McClinton and Laura Schroeder will take the cage for the women's hammer throw finals at 5:00 p.m. ET. After that, Big Ten Champion Sydney Clute will look to improve on last year's eighth-place finish at the Outdoor Championships in the women's pole vault final, set to begin 8:00 p.m.

Tomorrow's NCAA action featuring Indiana athletes includes the following (all times Eastern):

5:00 p.m. – Women's Hammer Throw Final – ESPN3 (Feed #1)
8:00 p.m. – Women's Pole Vault Final – ESPN3 (Feed #2)

The women's finals will broadcast live on ESPNU, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET. The broadcast will move to ESPN at 8:00 p.m. ET.