Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
NCAA Indoor Championships
Heppenstall Qualifies for NCAA 800m Final
3/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field
Official Results
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeTrack)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Wake Forest men's track and field freshman Robert Heppenstall qualified for the final in the 800m dash at the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham Ala.
Heppenstall crossed the finish line in 1:47.91 to place fifth in the first heat and seventh overall in the field of 16 runners. The top three runners in each heat and the next two fastest times advanced to Saturday's final and Heppenstall's time was better than that of all but two runners in the second heat.
Saturday's 800m final is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. ET. Live results will be available at WakeForestSports.com and ESPN3 will stream the meet on Saturday starting at 4:45 p.m. A re-air of the championship is scheduled for this Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, and again on March 23 at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.
Joining Heppenstall in the final race will be Clayton Murphy of Akron, Eliud Rutto of Middle Tennessee State, Shaquille Walker of BYU, Hector Hernandez of Texas A&M, Dylan Capwell of Monmouth, Brannon Kidder of Penn State and Goaner Deng of Minnesota.
Murphy paced all runners on Friday with a time of 1:46.92. Heppenstall was the lone freshman to qualify.
Entering the meet ranked 11th nationally, the Hamilton, Ontario native was one of nine runners to break the previous facility record of 1:48.13, set in February by LaForrest Church of Memphis.
Heppenstall became the Deacons' first-ever ACC Champion in the 800m on Feb. 27 with a record-breaking performance at the conference meet at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury Crossing, Mass. There, he clocked in at 1:47.35 to break the Wake Forest school record, ACC Championships meet record and the Canadian Junior record. The previous league meet record was set in 1998, while the school and Canadian Junior records had stood since 1991.
In his first season with the team, Heppenstall has competed in the 800m at three meets, placing third at the Camel City Invitational and second in the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite meet before winning the ACC Championships.
The rookie also won the mile in his collegiate debut at the JDL College Kick-off Classic in December and helped the Deacs win the distance medley relay at the UNCG Spartan Team Challenge and the 4x400m relay at the Chipotle Marshall Invitational.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will conclude the 2015-16 indoor track and field season. The Demon Deacons start their outdoor season by hosting the Wake Forest Open on March 18-19.
Players Mentioned
