GULF SHORES, Ala. – The UBC Thunderbirds may have brought too much thunder and lightning to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as inclement weather suspended the first day of competition at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.
 
The hammer events were the only finals completed on Thursday, while a handful of event preliminaries were also finished before the dark clouds moved over the area, bringing thunder, lightning and heavy rain.
 
Everything scheduled for Thursday after the men's 400-metre hurdles was postponed, forcing numerous changes to the event.
 
The qualifying heats for the 200 metres, the 4x800 relays and the women's steeplechase were all affected, as were the javelin events, the women's pole vault and the women's high jump.
 
The two 10,000-meter finals were switched to Friday morning, beginning at 6 a.m. PT with the women. The men's and women's 5,000-m preliminaries have also been eliminated with the one-section finals to be run as scheduled on Saturday. The revised schedule is below.
 


UBC did find success in some of the events that did get underway on Thursday afternoon.
 
Jack Williams (White Rock, B.C.) was second in his heat of the men's 1,500 metres, crossing the finish line in three minutes and 55.74 seconds to qualify for the final. Teammate Jeff Groh (Hummelstown, Pa.) was seventh in his heat with a time of 3:58.47 in his first-ever NAIA championship race and did not advance to the next round.
 
In the women's 400-metre hurdles, Vancouver's Katherine Tourigny qualified for the event final by finishing her heat in second place with a time of 1:01.29. Sarah Korpach (White Rock, B.C.) recorded a mark of 1:04.41 to place sixth in her heat.
 
In the women's javelin, Christine Ausman, a senior from Ottawa, completed two of three throws in the first round of the event. She has one more attempt to try and qualify for the final.
 
An extra long second day awaits competitors at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Friday. The women's 10,000 metres gets underway at 6 a.m. PT with UBC's Amelie de Fenoyl (Toronto) in the field, while the women's javelin resumes at 7 a.m.
 
REVISED SCHEDULE

FRIDAY, MAY 22
FIELD EVENTS
9:00AM W Javelin – RESUME FINAL (Christine Ausman)
1:00PM W Shot Put FINAL
1:00PM M Long Jump FINAL
1:00PM W Long Jump FINAL
4:00PM W Pole Vault - RESUME FINAL
4:30PM M Javelin FINAL (Connor Smith)
5:00PM M Discus FINAL
5:30PM W Triple Jump FINAL
6:00PM M High Jump FINAL

TRACK EVENTS
8:00AM W 10,000 FINAL (Amelie de Fenoyl)
8:45AM M 10,000 FINAL (Jesse Hooton and Will Cliff)
1:30PM W 100 Hurdles TRIALS
1:45PM M 110 Hurdles TRIALS
2:00PM W 800 TRIALS (Devan Wiebe, Tamara Harris, Stephanie Dacre)
2:20PM M 800 TRIALS (Lukas Jarron)
2:50PM W 100 TRIALS
3:10PM M 100 TRIALS
3:30PM W 400 TRIALS
3:50PM M 400 TRIALS
4:10PM W 5,000 Race-walk FINAL
4:40PM M 5,000 Race-walk FINAL (Ben Thorne)
5:15PM W 200 TRIALS
5:30PM M 200 TRIALS
5:40PM SENIOR RECONGNITION
6:00PM W 4x800 - 2 HEAT TIMED FINAL (UBC)
6:30PM M 4x800 - 2 HEAT TIMED FINAL (UBC)
6:55PM W 3,000 Steeplechase TRIALS (Maria Bernard, Madelyn Brunt, Brianna Cairns, Nicole Lacis)
7:45PM W 4x400 TRIALS
8:15PM M 4x400 TRIALS
 
SATURDAY, MAY 23
FIELD EVENTS
1:00PM M Shot Put FINAL
1:00PM M Pole Vault FINAL
1:30PM M Triple Jump FINAL (Oded Aminov)
2:00PM W High Jump FINAL
3:00PM W Discus FINAL
 
MARATHON
6:00AM W/M Marathon FINAL

TRACK EVENTS
2:00PM W 3,000 Steeplechase FINAL (TBA)
2:20PM M 3,000 Steeplechase FINAL (Justin Kent, Michael Bourgeois, John Gay)
2:40PM W 4x100 FINAL
2:50PM M 4x100 FINAL
3:00PM W 1500 FINAL
3:10PM M 1500 FINAL (Jack Williams)
3:20PM DAKTRONICS SCHOLAR-ATHLETE RECOGNITION
3:30PM W 100 Hurdles FINAL
3:40PM M 110 Hurdles FINAL
3:50PM W 100 FINAL
4:00PM M 100 FINAL
4:10PM W 400 Hurdles FINAL (Katherine Tourigny)
4:20PM M 400 Hurdles FINAL
4:30PM W 400 FINAL
4:40PM M 400 FINAL
4:50PM W 800 FINAL (TBA)
5:00PM M 800 FINAL (TBA)
5:10PM W 200 FINAL
5:20PM M 200 FINAL
5:30PM W 5,000 - 1 SECTION FINAL (Maria Bernard, Amelie de Fenoyl and Kirsten Lee)
5:55PM M 5,000 - 1 SECTION FINAL
6:15PM W 4x400 FINAL
6:25PM M 4x400 FINAL
*6:50PM AWARDS CEREMONY