Paige Stoner advances to 3000-meter steeplechase NCAA Championship final

In the second day of action at the outdoor NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Paige Stoner was the lone SU athlete to run, and she made it count. Stoner successfully qualified for the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase final, placing third in her heat with a time of 9:50.76 to advance to the finals which will be held at 6:54 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Stoner quickly launched into third to start the race running alongside Utah’s Grayson Murphy while Furman’s Kristlin Gear held the early lead. As the race went on, Murphy took control of the lead and Stoner battled for second with Utah State’s Cierra Simmons.

Simmons and Stoner went back and forth until eventually Simmons barely pulled ahead, beating Stoner by just .41 seconds. All the while Murphy ran away with it, finishing 1.78 seconds ahead of the other runners in the heat. All of the top five finishers in the heat received an automatic qualification to the final.

Syracuse will be in action again tomorrow when Aidan Tooker and Noah Affolder race at 8:54 p.m. ET in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase final.