Western junior Heidi Dimmitt’s first place finish in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at Saturday’s Ken Shannon/Ken Foreman Invitational at Husky Stadium was more than just a win or a new personal record of 1 minute and 1.69 seconds.  

It also helped her solidify her provisional qualification time and guaranteed her a trip to nationals later this month.

The invitational turned out five first-place finishes for Western.  Aside from Dimmitt, freshman Michelle Howe, junior Kevin Myhre, senior Keever Henry, and freshman Jordan Welling also placed first in their events.  However, a first place finish doesn’t necessarily guarantee a spot at nationals, since qualifying is dependent on having a minimum time, distance or score.

Howe said her time of 15.06 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles was 0.1 seconds shy of qualifying for nationals.  Howe said she was in good spirits about the outcome and is looking forward to having a shot next year.

Before the meet, Myhre said his season best was about 0.3 seconds off from the provisional qualification time of 53.4 seconds for nationals for the 400-meter hurdle event.  Myhre’s time at the invitational meet was 54.36 seconds.

Henry’s time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase of 9:36.81 was a season best.  Welling’s time in the 5,000-meter run was 15:03.95.

Freshman Megan Zukowski placed second in the 100-meter dash and fourth in the 200-meter dash.  Lemay, along with freshman Ryan Brown and senior James Turner, managed to place third in their respective events.

Freshman Sarah Porter competed in the 1,500-meter run on Saturday. Porter had already provisionally qualified for nationals in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs because of her previous standings.  

Porter said she is more likely to participate in the 10,000-meter run at nationals because she has a better time in the event. 

As a long-distance runner, Porter said the 1,500-meter run was not a regular event for her.

Head coach Kelvin “Pee Wee” Halsell said of all the team members who placed first, only Dimmit will be advancing to nationals.  Lemay and Welling might also have a chance, Halsell said.

Myhre said he had the advantage of being fresh from running only one event, versus the six events he ran the previous week at the conference meet.

“It would have been nice to run faster and earn a spot,” Myhre said of qualifying for nationals.  “But overall I had a good season, and I can’t complain.”

The next stop for those who qualified is the NCAA Division II National Championships May 22-24 in Walnut, Calif.

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