Gray advances to finals at national championships
Tina Gray qualified for the finals in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday by finishing ninth in the preliminaries.
Gray covered the distance at the Mt. Sac course in Walnut, Calif. in 11 minutes, 8.37 seconds. She will compete in the finals Saturday at appoximately 5:15.
Gray, who is just starting to return to form after battling inuries and illness this season, earned All-American status in the same event this past season.
Ashley Birger, competing in her first national competition, narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. She finished seventh in her heat with a time of 11:15.37.
Also competing Thursday was senior Kelly Smith, who finished 15th in the women's 10,000 meters with a time of 37:40.67. It was the final race of Smith's collegiate career.
UCCS Players/Staff Featured | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Ashley Birger | Steeplechase | So. | |
 | Ashley Birger | Steeplechase | So. | |
 | Ashley Birger | Steeplechase | So. | |
 | Ashley Birger | So. | ||
| Ashley Birger | So. | ||
| Ashley Birger | So. | ||
| Ashley Birger | So. | ||
 | Kelly Smith | Distance | Sr. | |
| Kelly Smith | Sr. | ||
 | Tina Gray | Jr. | ||
| Tina Gray | Jr. | ||
| Tina Gray | Steeplechase | ||
| Tina Gray | Steeplechase | ||
| Additional News Stories | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| June 4, 2004 |  | Birger named Academic All-American | Cross country/track athlete Ashley Birger was named second team academic All-American, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs announced Friday. |
| June 2, 2004 |  | Gray named All-American for second straight year | Tina Gray was named All-American for the second consecutive year, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs announced Wednesday. |
| May 9, 2004 |  | Women's track beats the heat | The CU-Colorado Springs Men's and Women's Track teams are accustomed to racing in tough conditions, but the RMAC Championships took it to a new level. |
| April 24, 2004 | Final tuneup successful for women's track | Saturday, April 24, Colorado State University hosted the Jack Christiansen Invitational where the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs women's track team competed in their last outdoor meet of the regular season. | |
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