June 3, 2000
DURHAM, N.C. -
California junior Bolota Asmerom placed 10th in the 5000 meters in 14:13.94 Saturday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Wallace Wade Stadium. This marked Asmerom's first appearance at the NCAA outdoor meet after competing in the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the first time during the fall of 1999.
The race was scheduled to take place at 8:50 p.m. ET Saturday, but due to general meet delays and a stoppage of competition due to lightning the starting gun went off at about 10:30 p.m. Stanford's Brad Hauser finished first in 13:48.80, and William & Mary's Matt Lane was second in 13:49.92.
Asmerom set the Cal record of 13:32.48 in the 5000 meters and automatically qualified for NCAAs as the top collegiate this year at the Mount SAC Relays. The native of Eritrea finished fourth in the 5000 meters at the 2000 Pac-10 meet in 14:10.29.
Earlier Saturday, Cal senior Bevan Hart won the decathlon with a career-best 8002 points, earning the Cal men's team's only 10 points. The Cal women posted 12 points during the four-day national championship - Missy Vanek third in the heptathlon (6 points), Jennifer Joyce fourth in the hammer (5 points) and Maria Lopez eighth in the pole vault (1 point). Final team finishes will not be available until approximately 1 a.m. ET.
