DES MOINES, Iowa - Junior
Juliet Bottorff earns second team All-America honors in the women's 10,000 meters with a time of 33:45.80 and a 14
th place finish at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
The cooler weather for this year's race resulted in a faster start which was very different from the slow, strategic race that resulted in a NCAA title for Bottorff in 2011.
"She ran a good overall time, a season best," Associate Head Coach Kevin Jermyn commented. "The race went out much faster than we expected. We were hoping more for a negative split style of race but it became more of a positive split and just kind of hang on to type of environment. A lot of girls looked really, really good today so that is just where she ended up."
The Newark, Del., native finished with a faster time than she ran last year to claim her crown by crossing the line in 33:45.80, a season best. With four miles remaining in the 6.2 race, Bottorff found herself in the chase pack seeking after a very quick moving lead pack. On several occasions she began to close the gap and ended up picking off several women but the challenge of running much of the race on her own and the grueling pace proved to be too much for her.
"She competed well," director of track and field Norm Ogilvie commented. "I think she responded well to the pressure of being the defending champ and she ran fast. She had to run a lot on her own but she didn't really have an alternative. Overall, I think it was a good race and congrats to Juliet for earning All-America honors for the second year in a row."
After Bottorff's performance, the Blue Devils have earned four total All-America honors as a team: Bottorff (10,000), Curtis Beach (LJ, 800) and Amy Fryt (Pole Vault).
Sophomore Michelle Anumba is set to represent Duke in the shot put on Friday, day three of the championship competition. A full recap will be available at www.goduke.com.
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