Wisconsin Badgers
NCAA Preliminary Round
Moving day: Staisiunaite in position for NCAA berth
May 27, 2011 | Women's Track & Field
May 27, 2011
• Day 1 Results | Day 1 Results 
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EUGENE, Ore. -- Compared to her workhorse effort at the Big Ten championships, Thursday's effort was just another day at the office for Egle Staisiunaite.
Still, she put herself in position to work some longer hours on Friday.
Staisiunaite earned an automatic spot in the quarterfinals of the 400-meter hurdles on the opening day of the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round with a third-place finish in her preliminary heat. Her time of 58.93 ranked as the senior's second-fastest effort of the year.
It also ranked 10th-fastest in the 48-competitor field and has Staisiunaite in position to advance to her first NCAA national meet if she can provide a sequel on Friday. The top 12 finishers in the quarterfinals will advance to the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships, set for June 7-11 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Staisiunaite will have her work cut out for her, as her 400 hurdles race will come just over two hours after she runs in the first round of the 100-meter hurdles. That event -- in which Staisiunaite will run in the third of six heats -- opens the day on the track at 5 p.m. (CT).
Still, two events is a limited schedule compared to the performance Staisiunaite put together in a similar timeframe two weeks ago at the Big Ten meet, when she scored in four events on the final day of competition.
While Staisiunaite advanced to keep her hopes of heading to Des Moines alive, Taylor Smith fell short of moving on by an agonizingly short margin. With the top 12 competitors in the shot put advancing to the national meet, Smith stacked up 13th with her mark of 51 feet, 6 1/2 inches.
That performance left the sophomore just 1 3/4 inches back of 12th-place Whitney Ashley of San Diego State (51-8 1/4).
However, like Staisiunaite, Smith will have another opportunity to advance to the NCAA championships when she competes in the discus on Saturday.
Sophomore teammate Jasmine Boyer was 20th overall in the shot put Thursday, throwing 49-11 1/4.
Junior Megan Rennhack and freshman Elaina Mezzasalma fell short of qualifying in the javelin, as well, with Rennhack taking 31st place at 141 feet, 4 inches and Mezzasalma posting a mark of 124-0 for 45th place.
Back on the track, sophomore Brittney Harper's first season of competition in the 800 meters came to an end with a 35th-place showing in the event's first round. Harper, a converted 400 meters runner, clocked in at 2:09.97.
The 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round continues for the Badgers on Friday, beginning with Staisiunaite's run in the 100-meter hurdles at 5 p.m. UW also will compete Karlye Wolff and Ashley Beutler in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Jordan Helgren in the triple jump.
