Posted: April 2, 2006

Athletics: Boit Wins 10K At Stanford Invitational And Earns NCAA Berth

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas senior Josphat Boit kicked off the outdoor season in style with a 10,000-meter championship late Friday night at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. Boit topped the 34-man field crossing the line in a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 28:22.09.

Boit is the first Razorback to punch his ticket to the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In all events, other than the 10,000-meter run and the decathlon, athletes must qualify for an NCAA Regional before competing for a spot in the NCAA meet. However, those two events aren’t contested at the regional meets. Qualifiers for the 10K and decathlon are determined by the same automatic and provisional qualifying standards applied in indoor track and field.

Boit is coming of a strong indoor season that saw the senior win the national individual title in the 5,000-meter run and finish third in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Indoors. The Kenyan finished sixth in the 10K at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Fellow Razorback senior Marc Rodrigues finished 26th in the Stanford Invitational 10K field, but posted a NCAA provisional qualifying time in the process. Rodrigues clocked a time of 29:32.43 besting his previous career-best time of 29:47.03 set at the same meet last year.

Arkansas will begin its outdoor season in earnest next weekend when the Razorbacks travel to Austin, Texas, for the 2006 Texas Relays. The Razorbacks are the defending outdoor track and field champions after capturing the title last June in Sacramento. Last month, Arkansas won its 42nd national championship at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.

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