BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Freshman Cera Eckenroth capped off a second All-America performance of her freshman season by finishing the 5,000 meters in eighth place March 2 in the NAIA National Indoor Track & Field Championships.
"After a full weekend of racing, Cera comfortably finished in eighth place after completing her fourth race in 72 hours," Assistant Coach Peter Cunningham said. "Her race in the 5,000 meter finals was nothing short of a masterclass in tactics. Cera is a great listener, and makes her moves when the coaches advise her to do so.
"She made a critically important move with 2,000 meters left to bypass two competitors, and that's why she's an All-American, again."
Eckenroth completed the 5,000 meters in 17:42.24, just seven seconds behind her personal best mark, which she used to easily make her way through the preliminary 5,000 meters race 48 hours earlier.
Eckenroth joins Allika Pearson as the only two runners in program history to earn All-America finishes at both cross country and indoor track and field.
In the preliminaries, Eckenroth jetted out early and controlled the pack for the first half of the race. Then she and two others broke away, but knowing she had three more races to run over three days, the freshman allowed the other two racers to set the pace while she conserved energy and coasted to an automatic qualifying time, her current PR in the event.
With a time of 5:01.22 in the mile qualifier, Eckenroth earned a spot in the final with the second-fastest at-large mark. In the finals, she improved by a second, and despite running as the only freshman in the field, finished in ninth place -- one spot from a third All-America effort.
Sophomore Hope Ahnfeldt also ran in the 5,000 meters prelims, but wasn't able to advance with Eckenroth to the final field of 12. Ahnfeldt's time of 18:11.54 finished eighth in the first heat, and was just 21 seconds away from finals qualification.
"Hope was in the deeper of the two heats, so we knew it was going to be a tall task," Cunningham said. "About 600 meters into the race, Coach Ben Ledbetter told her to make a move and she went, but sadly the field didn't let her get far and reeled her in after a couple more laps.
"We couldn't be more proud of Hope. It was a fantastic showing despite coming off an injury that we thought would sideline her for the entirety of the indoor season."
The Golden Eagles will open the outdoor season in Bolivar, Mo. at the Southwest Baptist University Track Meet at Plaster Stadium 0n March 29-30.