For Immediate Release: Thursday, June 12, 2003
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director

KEATING 11TH AT NCAAS, NAMED ALL-AMERICAN

SACRAMENTO, CA-For most of the race, sophomore Westly Keating (Pharr, TX/PSJA North HS/Texas) stayed with the leaders during the 10,000 meter run at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Sacramento State University's Hornet Stadium late Thursday night.

Keating's effort was good enough to earn him 11th place and All-American status, as he finished the race in 28:55.74, his second best time of the season. He is the first Bronc to earn All-American status in track and field twice in the same season, having been named an All-American after finishing 25th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships last November.

Keating ran with the leaders throughout the first half of the race, and his time of 14:09 for the first 5000 meters was four seconds better than his Texas-Pan American school record for that distance. But Arkansas senior Dan Lincoln, who finished first in 28:20.20, then made his move, and took the lead for good.

"I went out pretty hard, and wanted to see what I had," said Keating. "I knew that was my best 5K ever, but he (Lincoln) made a big surge after that, and I tried to catch up too quickly, and used up most of my energy. After that, I had to try to hang on and finish as well as I could."

Keating finished 34 seconds behind Lincoln, and just 1.08 seconds behind Eastern Michigan's Boaz Cheboiywo, the pre-race favorite, who finished 10th. "When I race, I don't like to hang back, I like to put it out on the line," said Keating. "If they beat me, then they're just better, and I give them all the respect in the world. If I'm going to win, I'm going to do it by putting it all on the line."

"Overall, Westly ran a great race, and I was very proud of him," said UTPA Assistant Coach Doug Molnar. "I was really proud of the fact that he really went for it, and ran with the front pack for most of the race. They went out extremely hard, and passed two miles in 9:04. The guy from Arkansas (Lincoln) made a big move, and Westly responded, and it might have hurt him a little bit. It's been a great year. Westly is only a sophomore, and when he gets a little more experience and is a little stronger, there's no reason why he won't be a top three guy before it's all said and done."

The race concludes Texas-Pan American's track and field season.

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