Photo by: Marty Kinsey
TRK | Season Ends for Stanziano in Third Day of NCAA West Prelims
5/28/2022 8:18:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Calif. — Rayna Stanziano attempted to make history in two forms on Saturday at the NCAA West Prelims at the University of Arkansas. Running both the 1500m and the 5000m in the same day, Stanziano had two chances to advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career. Ultimately, her season came to a close after failing to finish inside the top five of her respective heats, but she still made SMC history.
First competing in the 1500m, Stanziano was running at a similar pace to that of her qualifying run that advanced her from the first to the second round. She found herself running in ninth place for a majority of the race, but well within striking distance after maintaining a 400m pace of about 1:10.93, improving to 1:10.76 by the 1100m mark of the race. The final stretch is when she cranked it up on Thursday and improved into the top-five, but Stanziano could not do the same on Saturday. Her pace fell off and she slipped into 11th overall in her heat, finishing the race with at time of 4:35.85. Still, that marks the second-best time that Stanziano has posted in the 1500m at the NCAA West Prelims while at Saint Mary's.
In the 5000m, Stanziano had not competed in this event in the NCAA West Prelims before, and that challenge was amplified given that she had already run 1500m earlier in the day. She held her own in the first lap and a half of the race, where she shuffled between 12th and 17th in the field. It did not take long, however, for fatigue to set in for Stanziano, who has not run both the 1500m and the 5000m in the same day. Her time of 18:22.29 was short of the top-five and a spot in the finals, but the effort was impressive.
"Rayna ran a fantastic season of racing we are super proud of her and excited for the future," head coach Marty Kinsey said following Saturday's action. "Everything she's done has been scripted and done so according to plan. Obviously, it would've been nice to have a bit of a better day today, but experience she has will help her with the next two years at Saint Mary's."
Despite her season ending, Stanziano became the first Gael to compete in multiple NCAA West Prelims events on the same day. She now holds Saint Mary's records in three different categories at the end of her junior season: 800m, 1500m, and 5000m.
First competing in the 1500m, Stanziano was running at a similar pace to that of her qualifying run that advanced her from the first to the second round. She found herself running in ninth place for a majority of the race, but well within striking distance after maintaining a 400m pace of about 1:10.93, improving to 1:10.76 by the 1100m mark of the race. The final stretch is when she cranked it up on Thursday and improved into the top-five, but Stanziano could not do the same on Saturday. Her pace fell off and she slipped into 11th overall in her heat, finishing the race with at time of 4:35.85. Still, that marks the second-best time that Stanziano has posted in the 1500m at the NCAA West Prelims while at Saint Mary's.
In the 5000m, Stanziano had not competed in this event in the NCAA West Prelims before, and that challenge was amplified given that she had already run 1500m earlier in the day. She held her own in the first lap and a half of the race, where she shuffled between 12th and 17th in the field. It did not take long, however, for fatigue to set in for Stanziano, who has not run both the 1500m and the 5000m in the same day. Her time of 18:22.29 was short of the top-five and a spot in the finals, but the effort was impressive.
"Rayna ran a fantastic season of racing we are super proud of her and excited for the future," head coach Marty Kinsey said following Saturday's action. "Everything she's done has been scripted and done so according to plan. Obviously, it would've been nice to have a bit of a better day today, but experience she has will help her with the next two years at Saint Mary's."
Despite her season ending, Stanziano became the first Gael to compete in multiple NCAA West Prelims events on the same day. She now holds Saint Mary's records in three different categories at the end of her junior season: 800m, 1500m, and 5000m.
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