Bleday and King Both Advance to NCAA Championship Meet in 5000M

Thursday, May 29

Jacksonville, Fla.

All Day

Dartmouth College

NCAA East Regional

Bleday and King Both Advance to NCAA Championship Meet in 5000M

5/31/2014 8:57:00 PM | Men's Track & Field

By: Dartmouth

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Dartmouth men's track & field team had not been represented at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2008 prior to Saturday evening. Senior John Bleday and sophomore Curtis King changed all that as they both earned berths to the 2014 meet in the 5000m.

Running in one of the final events of the day at North Florida's Hodges Stadium and the NCAA East Regional, the Big Green duo erased the five-year drought for the men as both punched their tickets to Eugene, Oregon, and the national finals of the 5000m.

Running in the faster of the two heats, King secured one of the two at-large berths as his 14:11.75 had him sixth in his section as well as sixth overall. Bleday claimed second in his heat, earning an automatic berth to Oregon with a 14:13.04, a mark that was good for ninth overall.

The top five from each heat automatically moved on with the next best two times earning the event's at-large spots.

Both will run in the 5000m national final on Friday, June 13 at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. The race is scheduled to begin at 9:10 ET and is the final event of the day.

The last Dartmouth male to make it to the outdoor championship was Tyler Koskenoja in 2008, claiming ninth in the decathlon.

Senior Steve Mangan wrapped up his career with an 18th-place showing in the national quarterfinals of the 1500m. Mangan posted a 3:47.35 to finish ninth in his heat. The event was extremely close as 23 of the top 24 competitors all had times within four seconds of one another.

Mangan had reached the NCAA Championships during indoor season in the mile, but will not see the same fate during the outdoor campaign as his finish on this evening did not earn him a trip to Oregon.