By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information
EUGENE, Ore.—The 2016-17 Tennessee Tech athletic seasons officially came to a close Thursday evening as sophomore track and field sensation Na'Asha Robinson finished just shy of earning a spot in the finals of the NCAA Track and Field Championships.
"Na'Asha did very well today," assistant coach Eugene Fraizer said. "This is the best meet in the country and the best competition in the world. She performed exceptionally today, and there are always some nerves being here for the first time that can be hard to deal with, but overall she did wonderful. She is young in this sport, only being a sophomore in college and she overcame huge hurdles and bounds this year. She topped her outdoor personal record by a second and a half and accomplished just about every goal she set out to this year. We wanted to make it to the finals, but the chips did not fall that way. However, now that she had a tast of what it is like to compete on the national stage she will be extremely hungry next season to get right back here.
Robinson placed 15th overall in the semifinal race (fourth in her heat) in a field of 24 runners with a 400-meter dash time of 53.28. She topped runners from top tier schools of Maryland, Florida State, Purdue, Minnesota, Oregon, and Ohio State. Robinson completes her sophomore campaign as the only Tech women's track and field runner in school history to compete in the NCAA Championships. She also claimed the Tech school record in the 400-meter dash last week at the NCCA East Preliminaries quarterfinals, when she recorded a time of 52.00 in the race.
Photo by Rick Morgan
