BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Cornell track and field teams began competition at the First Round of the NCAA Championships on Thursday at the University of Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., and had very strong results as senior Nate Edelman earned a spot in the NCAA Final Round in two weeks in the men's 10,000 meters and sophomore Katie Kellner broke the school record in the women's 10,000 meters with a strong 18th place finish.

With another First Round competition being held simultaneously in Eugene, Ore., the two regional sites had 48 athletes apiece in each event. The three-day meets at each site will winnow the fields down to 12 from each site, with the fields for the Final Round in Des Moines, Iowa, to therefore be set at 24 in each event.

On the first day of competition, the Big Red had athletes in the men's shot put, men's high jump, men's long jump, men's 400 hurdles, men's 800, men's 10K, women's 400 hurdles, women's 1500, women's 800 and women's 10,000 meteres.

Despite unpredictable weather (and a day after severe tornadoes ripped through the Bloomington area) that fluctuated from breezy and humid to wet and cool, the Big Red performed well on Thursday.

The main highlight for the Big Red men came in the 10,000 meters as senior Nate Edelman punched his ticket to the Final Round in Des Moines with a stellar sixth place finish, running a big personal best of 29:10.11, #3 all-time at Cornell (behind only Brian Clas '94 and Zach Hine '09). Running a gutty race in which he was well-positioned in the top 12 throughout, Edelman moved up very well in the last 3K to earn a spot in the NCAA Final Round. Classmate Drew Hart also ran extremely well, placing 18th in a personal best of 29:41.83, #8 all-time at Cornell. Both Edelman and Hart did terrific jobs to place significantly higher than their pre-meet seeding would have indicated.

The 10,000 was also a big highlight for the Cornell women as sophomore Katie Kellner ran a 29 second personal best to place 18th in 34:08.66, breaking the three-week old school record set by classmate Kelsey Karys at the Heps. Seeded 23rd coming in, Kellner gave a terrific effort and ran in the top fifteen to twenty of a very good field throughout.  After splitting 17:04 at 5K, she closed out her race with another 17:04; remarkably, both of these 5000 meter splits were faster than her personal best for the 5K from last year as a freshman. After Martina Hoppe '94 had held the women's 10K school record for 19 years, the mark has now been lowered twice in the last three weeks, with Kellner following her roommate Karys' instructions from before the race to go out and set a new one.

Earlier in the day, the Big Red men had very strong showings in the field. Junior Chris Arlinghaus placed fifteenth in the high jump with a near personal best clearance of 6-11. And classmate Bob Belden performed very well with an outdoor seasonal best of 56-10 to place an impressive 20th in a very good field. And freshman Steven Bell gained valuable experience in his first experience at this meet with a 46th place showing in the long jump, reaching 22-2 1/4. On the track, junior Brian Freitas placed 33rd in the 400 hurdles with a time of 52.92 while sophomore Nick Wade closed out his season with a run of 1:54.35 for 41st in the 800.

The Cornell women had a pair of very good showings in the 1500 as junior Janel Parker and sophomore Alyssa O'Connor both finished higher than their seeding entering the meet. Parker ran a very good race to place seventh in her heat with a time of 4:25.77 and missed advancing to the semi-final round by just one place, finishing 25th overall. O'Connor placed ninth in her heat, competing well to get 27th overall in 4:27.62. Senior co-captain Kim Standridge closed out her outstanding , All-American Cornell career with a run of 2:08.89 in the 800, placing fifth in her heat and 30th overall. And junior Molly Glantz finished a remarkable year with a strong run in the 400 hurdles; she was in the top three in her heat before hitting the ninth hurdle. She ultimately placed seventh in her heat and 44th overall in 62.52.

Complete results can be found here:
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/livestats/m-track/ncaaprelim11/

On Friday, the Big Red will have several more athletes compete. Senior Gary Jones will compete in the triple jump, senior Adrien Dannemiller will toe the line in the men's 3000 meter steeplechase and senior Maura Carroll and sophomore Genna Hartung will race in the women's 3000 meter steeplechase. On Saturday, sophomore Kelsey Karys will compete in the women's 5000 meters.