Sporrer makes steeplechase finals, 4x800 gets 22nd

MARION, Ind. — Morningside junior Courtney Sporrer advanced Wednesday to the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Sporrer finished eighth with a time of 11 minutes, 16 seconds to make it to Friday's final at noon Iowa time on the Indiana Wesleyan campus. She needed to make the Top 14 to make the final.

The highest spot she held during the race was third in her heat, and finished fifth in the first heat of two among the field. Sporrer was the highest-placing junior.

Sporrer, meanwhile, was the anchor runner about an hour earlier in the 3,200-meter relay that also included Morgan Sachs, Jolee Mesz, and Nicole Zuehl.

That Mustangs quartet finished 22nd, running the race in 9:41.43. Sachs had the fastest split, running her two laps in 2:21.17. Mesz ran her split in 2:21.60, while Zuehl completed her leg in 2:26.21.