In the closing stages of the 800-meter finals. Conor Murphy shifted into another gear.
The result? A personal best and another All-American finish at the NCAA Division 1 Track & Field Championships.
Three months after placing sixth in the mile at the indoor meet, the Virginia junior and former Classical standout did one better on Friday night. With a strong kick coming down the last straightaway, Murphy placed fifth overall with a time of 1 minute, 46.43 seconds. He covered his final 400m in 52.56. Only eventual champion and Georgia freshman Will Sumner ran faster ,clocking 51.15 en route to his facility record of 1:44.26.
Murphy, whose previous best was 1:47.27 from the VA Challenge (April 20-22), was in the ninth and last position as he rounded the turn for the final stretch. He passed four runners in the last 75m of the race.
“It’s always great to get a PB, but I care more about the place and points for my team,” he told the UVA sports media. “I am so happy with how I did there. I fought the last 100 meters to scrape away as many points as I could.”
The four-day meet, held at the University of Texas’s Mike A Myers Stadium in Austin, concludes on Saturday. Former Portsmouth Abbey star Margot Appleton (Virginia) is scheduled to compete in the 1,500m finals. She advanced after finishing third in her heat during the semifinals on Thursday with a time of 4:09.83, the third fastest of the day.
In the men’s hammer competition on Wednesday, Woonsocket alum and Mississippi freshman Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan earned All-American status by taking eighth overall with a heave of 234 feet, 2 inches. Former Lincoln standout Kyle Moison (Auburn) was 17th overall with a PB of 221-1. In his final NCAA appearance, Barrington’s Bobby Colantonio (Alabama) was 19th with a distance of 220-8. Robinson-O’Hagan was also 11th in the shot (64-8.25).
Kenzie Doyle concluded an outstanding year at UMass-Lowell by placing 17th in the 10,000m on Wednesday. The onetime La Salle Academy all-stater was timed in 34:41.76.
Westerly alum Megan Albamonti (Delaware) was ninth in the javelin on Thursday with a toss of 178-8.
