Early celebration almost costs NCAA 1,500m winner the national title
Mississippi State University's Marta Freitas celebrated early in the women's 1,500m final at the NCAA championships on Saturday in a near-disastrous move.
An early celebration at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore. on Saturday evening nearly cost Mississippi State University’s Marta Freitas the national title in the women’s 1,500m. Stanford’s Elise Cranny made a huge charge in the final moments to narrow the gap and missed winning by 0.004 seconds after officials needed a photo finish to determine the champion.
The two were neck and neck with 100 metres remaining but Freitas gapped Cranny until about 10 metres to go when the Stanford athlete made a last ditch attempt to win. As Freitas threw up her arms in celebration, Cranny was about as close as it comes to passing her.
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The NCAA championships, which serve as the U.S. collegiate championships, concluded on Saturday evening after four days of competition. See our day three recap here.
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At last year’s championships, Freitas, a native of Portugal, broke her wrist at Hayward Field, the site of the competition, which put an end to her 2015 collegiate season. On Saturday, Freitas’ winning time was 4:09.530, narrowly ahead of Cranny’s 4:09.534, according to the on-screen results.
The official results show Freitas’ time as 4:09.53 versus Cranny’s 4:09.54.
Marta Freitas (@Martapenfreitas), winner of the 1500 meter at the NCAA Championships@HailStateTF #NCAATrackField pic.twitter.com/71g3xpI0HT
— Pat Holleran (@athleticsPix) June 12, 2016
In the same 1,500m, Canadians Annie Leblanc finished fifth and Jaimie Phelan finished in eighth. Freitas is the teammate of Canadian Brandon McBride, who finished second in the men’s 800m on Friday and is expected to represent the red and white at the Olympics in Rio.
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Notable highlights from Canadians on Saturday
3rd place finish tonight! But there is still more to come this year #OnAMission pic.twitter.com/DArUjv0owS
— Sage Watson (@SageWats) June 12, 2016
ALL-AMERICAN! Chanice Chase runs a big PR of 54.94 for 5th in the 400 hurdles! That's #3 on #LSU's all-time list! pic.twitter.com/QgriqFGAIj
— LSUTrackField (@LSUTrackField) June 12, 2016
Two scorers and two All-Americans at 1500m! Congrats to @JaimiePhelan on a new PB 4:15.61!!! pic.twitter.com/2zLqCbD79h
— Michigan Track&Field (@umichtrack) June 11, 2016
An All-American Canadian, Charlotte takes 9th today in the steeple. Second among freshmen and tops in the Pac-12! pic.twitter.com/vBSMfghnIM
— UW Track (@UWTrack) June 12, 2016
Erin Teschuk finishes 8th in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships, earning her 7th first-team All-America honor! Season-best 9:56.71.
— NDSU Track & Field (@NDSUTrackField) June 11, 2016
Great finish from @AnnieTheWhite. She got fifth in the 1500, adding four points to the @OregonTF total.#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/PPB9Mi8G7z
— GoDucks (@GoDucks) June 11, 2016
.@Geeorrgiaa broke the #Badgers record in the heptathlon on Saturday en route to a fifth-place finish at #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/PW1K8A7gSS
— Badger Track & Field (@BadgerTrackXC) June 12, 2016
Full results from the entire championships
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