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Akbar Smashes School Record While Placing Eighth in 5000m at NCAA East Regional
Carlstrom finishes 18th in 1500m

May 30, 2003

Samia Akbar broke her own school record in the 5000m at the NCAA East Regional.

FAIRFAX, Va. — Running in the NCAA East Regional Championship, senior Samia Akbar broke her own school record by nearly 20 seconds as she placed eighth in the 5000-meters in 16:20.62. Freshman Keira Carlstrom finished 18th in the preliminaries of the 1500-meters and fifth in her heat, running 4:32.60.

Running in a large field, Akbar put herself in the front pack from the beginning. As Yale's Laura O'Neill took the lead, Akbar settled in with five other women and cruised through the first mile in 5:06.

Keira Carlstrom finished 18th in the 1500m.

The front pack made a strong break from the field six laps into the race as Yale's Kate O'Neill took the lead. As group ran away from the field, the second mile was covered in 5:09. Akbar continued to run strong, but another move by the leaders proved to be too much as she was unable to hold the quick pace. Akbar finished eighth in the race after a 5:25 last mile. Her final time of 16:20.62 breaks her own school record set earlier this season of 16:37.70.

Carlstrom took the lead from the gun and held the lead for the first two laps. She led a tight pack through the first 800m in 2:26.14. The pace picked up in lap three as Treniere Clement from Georgetown and Marina Muncan of Villanova took the lead. After a 71 second third lap, Carlstrom held on in fourth place but finished in fifth, running 4:32.60.

Akbar currently has the 19th fastest time in the NCAA in the 10,000m and will be running the event at the NCAA Championships in Sacremento, Calif. on June 12.