Lewiston’s Isaiah Harris cruised into Friday night’s men’s 800-meter final at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field championships by winning his semifinal heat Wednesday evening at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Harris, a junior at Penn State, posted the third-fastest time of the day — 1 minute, 46.99 seconds — to win the third of three semifinals and gain an automatic berth into the final, scheduled for 9:44 p.m. Friday.
An All-American who finished second in last year’s NCAA 800 final, Harris trailed only the other heat winners, sophomores Bryce Hoppel of Kansas (1:46.90) and Michael Saruni of Texas-El Paso (1:46.98), in the prelims.
The top two finishers in each heat and the next two fastest runners regardless of heat qualified for the final.
Two other Mainers, long jumper Kate Hall of Casco and distance runner Hannah Steelman of Orono, were to begin their respective events on Thursday.
Hall, a junior at the University of Georgia, will attempt to win her second straight NCAA outdoor championship in the long jump when the finals are contested beginning at 8:30 p.m.
Steelman, a freshman at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina who qualified in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000 meters, will run in the steeplechase semifinals at 7:32 p.m.
The steeplechase final is scheduled for 6:54 p.m. Saturday followed by the 5,000-meter final at 8:25 p.m.
There are no preliminary races in the 5,000. Steelman is one of 24 runners who directly qualified for the final in that event.
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