AUSTIN, Texas -
Oklahoma State's Eva Tomankova received an automatic bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships after an impressive performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA Midwest Regional Track and Field Championships, this weekend.
Tomankova, a junior from Radinov, Czech Republic, finished third in the event with a time of 10:38.92. Tomankova joins junior Mary Davies as they are the only two Cowgirls to earn a national bid.
"(Eva) ran a smart tactical race after starting near the 10th position," Cowgirl head coach Rene Sepulveda said.
Davies, who set two regional qualifying marks in the 5,000-meter and the 3,000-meter steeplechase, was held out of the regional meet to focus on the 10,000-meter run at the national championships.
OSU was then represented well in the field events, as it saw two athletes improve on their personal record marks.
Senior long jumper, Cody Birk, jumped a personal best distance of 19'11.50" (6.08-meters) to finish 10th in her first regional appearance. Junior Zivile Siksnelyte, who also competed in her first regional championships, finished 14th with a jump of 41'03" (12.57-meters) in the triple jump.
In the throwing events, the Pokes were led by sophomore Deleanor Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick threw a distance of 177'07" (54.12-meters) as she finished 18th in the hammer throw. Sophomore LaKendra Greathouse capped off the field events for OSU with 14th–place finish in the shot put.
"A lot of the girls were happy to be at the regional meet," Sepulveda said. "We're a young team and most of our girls can now take the experience they gained from this meet and build off of it next season."
After coming down with stomach viruses at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, senior Alison Erzinger and junior Eva Slavikova never seemed to recover, Sepulveda said.
Erzinger, who was an All-American last season, ran a time of 1:01.80 to finish 15th in the 400-meter hurdle race. Slavikova finished 12th in the 5,000-meter race in a time of 17:44.61.
"Both are tremendous athletes who were ranked high in their events," Sepulveda said. "They battled their stomach viruses as good as they could."
The Cowgirls will now be set on preparing Tomankova and Davies for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, June 7-10, in Sacramento, Calif