Eastern Kentucky University junior Jamaine Coleman is headed to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon after finishing second overall in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries on Friday night.
Coleman and Louisville All-American Edwin Kibichiy scorched the Univ. of Kentucky’s track in the second heat of the event, finishing 1-2 with times of 8:32.9 and 8:34.1. Those are the two fastest times in the NCAA this year.
Coleman’s time of 8:34.1 is also an eight-second personal-best and is less than a second off Olympian Ole Hesselbjerg’s school record of 8:33.2, set in 2015.
The top three finishers from the event’s three heats, plus the next three fastest times, advanced to the NCAA Championships, which will be held June 7-10 at Historic Hayward Field in Eugene.
EKU has now had an NCAA qualifier in the steeplechase each of the past five years.
It is Coleman’s first-ever trip to the national championship meet.
Junior All-American Jakob Abrahamsen was not far off from qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the second straight season, finishing 17th overall with a time of 8:53.3.
Abrahamsen finished 11th at the NCAA Championships last year in Eugene.
Freshman Samuel Abascal, meanwhile, took 37th in the event with a time of 9:14.5.
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Steve Fohl
Associate Director of EKUSports Communications
