Wake Forest University
NCAA Championships
Heppenstall Advances to NCAA 800m Finals
6/7/2017 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeTrack)
EUGENE, Ore. - Wake Forest men's track and field sophomore Robert Heppenstall finished second in his 800m national semifinal heat on Wednesday to automatically qualify for the NCAA finals.
Finals will be held on Friday, June 9 at 9:47 p.m. ET.
Heppenstall finished his second-heat race with a time of 1:47.16 to earn the automatic bid to Friday's finals. The top two performers from the three heats plus the two next best times advanced.
Though it looked like anyone's race entering the final stretch, Heppenstall made a big move with less than 110m to go to pass four competitors and earn the second-place finish.
Joining Heppenstall in the finals is Michael Saruni and Emmanuel Korir from UTEP, Penn State's Isaiah Harris, Florida's Andres Arroyo, Texas A&M's Devin Dixon, Georgetown's Joseph White and fellow-ACC competitor Drew Piazza of Virginia Tech.
This will be Heppenstall's second outdoor track and field finals appearance of his career as he finished eighth place overall last season with a time of 1:51.14.
Before Heppenstall's finals on Friday, senior Ellie Abrahamson will compete in the women's 3000m steeplechase on Thursday, June 8 at 8:02 p.m. ET. The top five from each heat plus the two next best times will advance to the finals on Saturday, June 10 at 6:54 p.m. ET.
Players Mentioned
