Dinsmore Advances to 100-Meter Finals by .001 at NCAA Championships

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

CLAREMONT, CALIF. -- An athletic competition is often a game of inches, with winning and losing determined by the smallest of margins. For Willamette University senior sprinter Jaela Dinsmore (Hines, OR/Burns HS) the statement was true on Friday, May 25 at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships, as she advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash by just one one-thousandth of a second (.001).

The winner of each heat advanced to the finals along with the runners who recorded the next six fastest times.

Dinsmore took third place in the last of three heats with a time of 12.12 seconds. Katisha Simmons, a freshman from Medgar Evers College (N.Y.) also registered a time of 12.12 and placed fourth in the second heat. Dinsmore and Simmons were tied for the final berth into the finals.

When the times were extended to three decimal places, Dinsmore and Simmons were initially tied at 12.114. It appeared the two athletes would have to compete in a run-off to determined who advanced to the finals.

Officials examined video of the preliminary heats and determined that Dinsmore's time was accurate at 12.114, while the time for Simmons was corrected to 12.115. Dinsmore will compete in the 100-meter finals on Saturday, May 26 at 4:00 p.m. (PDT).

Winning the heats in the 100-meter dash were Ashley Carney from Augsburg College (Minn.) in 11.97 seconds, Tiarra Goode from Birmingham Southern College (Ala.) in 11.80 seconds and Ashlynn Chavis from Methodist College (N.C.) in the fastest time of the prelims at 11.77 seconds.

Chavis won Dinsmore's heat. Brittni Wirtz from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh finished next in the heat at 12.03 seconds and Dinsmore was third. Fourth place went to Briana Wise from Worcester State University (Mass.) at 12.15 seconds and Kendra Coleman from McMurry University (Texas) was fifth at 12.18 seconds. Overall, seven runners competed in the third heat.

In other action for the Bearcats on Friday, Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS) finished the heptathlon in 15th place with 4,391 points. Miller missed her personal record of 4,406 by just 15 points. She improved by three positions over her 18th-place finish at the 2011 NCAA Championships, when she scored 4,291.

On Friday, Miller earned 8th place in the 800-meter dash in 2:28.07, placed 17th in the long jump at 16' 2.50" and took 17th in the javelin throw at 100' 1". She began the day in 17th place with 2,645 points during the first four events, which were held on Thursday.

Miller's top score during the heptathlon was 815 points with a time of 15.20 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. Her overall score was a new season high, edging out her score of 4,381 at the West Coast Invitational on May 11-12.

Alexis Arnold from Northwest Conference rival George Fox University won the NCAA heptathlon championship with a school record 4,920 points. She edged out Emma Dewart from Ithaca College (N.Y.) by just three points, with Dewart posting a score of 4,917.

Willamette's schedule for Saturday, includes Dinsmore in the 100-meter finals as well as Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS) in the finals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. The women's steeplechase is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. (PDT). Freeby qualified for the finals with a personal record time of 10:57.24 in the prelims on Thursday.