Amanda Vestri finishes in top 10 at NCAA Outdoor Championships

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Aidan Tooker, JP Trojan, Amanda Vestri and Annie Heffernan represented Syracuse in the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week, with Vestri coming in 10th in the women’s 10,000-meter.

On day one of NCAA championship racing, redshirt senior Tooker (8:40.42) placed 16th in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase semifinal after finishing 10th in his heat. Despite a season-best time, he was four spots outside of the time needed to qualify for the final on Friday. Tooker’s time earned him second-team All-American honors. This was his third appearance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA championship — he finished fourth with a time of 8:35.41 in 2018 and 21st in 2017 (9:02.33).

In the men’s 10,000-meter, Trojan (29:24:08) placed 21st to earn All-American honorable mention honors. His time was 25 seconds slower than his time at the NCAA Preliminary two weeks ago and nearly 30 seconds slower than his season-best time of 28:55.00 set at the Virginia Challenge in April.

On Friday, Vestri and Heffernan both competed in the women’s 10,000-meter. Vestri (32:52.74) finished 10th, and Heffernan (33:09.83) placed 15th. University of Oregon’s Carmela Cardama Baez won the race with a time of 32:16:13. Heffernan’s time was a personal best — 15 out of 24 competitors in the 10,000-meter race posted personal best times. The two Syracuse runners both earned second-team All-American honors for their performances.