Eastern Kentucky University junior All-American Charlotte Imer punched her ticket to the NCAA Track and Field Championships by finishing second overall in the women’s 5,000 meters at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries on Saturday night.
Imer torched the Univ. of Kentucky’s track to the tune of 16:02.2, losing only to Penn State’s Tessa Barrett and finishing second out of 48 competitors to lock up an automatic qualifying spot. The native of Melbourne, Australia entered the meet ranked ninth in the event.
This is Imer’s first trip to the NCAA Track and Field Championships. She earned All-America honors after finishing 31st overall at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. That was the best national finish ever by an EKU woman and the second best national finish ever by an OVC woman.
Imer – who is the reigning OVC Female Track Athlete of the Year – is the first EKU woman to qualify for the NCAAs in the 5K since Ann Eason in 2013.
Junior Luisa Boschan also competed in the women’s 5,000 meters on Saturday night, and she just missed out on a trip to Eugene. The native of Berlin, Germany placed 15th out of 48 runners with a time of 16:35.2.
EKU had two runners in the men’s 5,000 meters. Senior Luis Luna finished 25th out of 48 with a time of 14:37.6, while sophomore Erick Rotich did not finish the race.
Sophomore Tequan Claitt, meanwhile, battled through another ripped shoe to take 29th in the men’s high jump, recording a leap of 6-8.75.
The NCAA Championships will take place June 7-10 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
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Steve Fohl
Associate Director of EKUSports Communications
