Five members of the North Carolina Track and Field team competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championship, in Eugene, Oregon. Four of them walked away with All-America honors and a fifth finished with one of the best times of her career.
The five Tar Heels who competed in the last meet of the year were Jill Shippee, Kenny Selmon, Anna Keefer, Morgan Ilse and Caroline Alcorta.
Selmon, a senior, was the first team member to compete in the NCAA Championship. He competed in the 400-meter hurdles, on June 7th and finished first in his heat with the fastest semifinal time of 49.27, which earned him the top seed for the finals. For the third year in a row, he appeared in the event's final, his final race as a college athlete.
He made the most of the final opportunity. Selmon ran a personal best time of 48.12 — breaking his own school record and finishing as the national runner-up. This was his highest place finish ever in the NCAA Championship, blazing the eighth-fastest time in the world this year.
Throughout his collegiate career, Selmon has accomplished a lot. He is a five time All-American, five time ACC Champion, and 14 time All-ACC honoree and he was named the 2018 USTFCCCA southeast region men’s track athlete of the year.
Selmon has had plenty of experience in NCAA's, but the other Tar Heels were making their first trip to the event.
Shippee, a first-year, made her NCAA Championship debut in the women’s hammer throw competition, throwing a 200-5 (61.10m) — good enough for a finish in 14th place and recognition as a second team All-America honoree.
In addition, Keefer, another first-year, competed in the women’s long jump, setting a new personal best in her first jump of the day. She jumped 20-3 (6.17), securing 15th place and earning second team All-America honors.
In only her third time racing the 10,000 meters race, Alcorta, a senior, finished her collegiate career with an NCAA Outdoor Championship debut. In the 10,000 meter finals she ran 33:49.81, which was a new personal best. With that time Alcorta finished 14th on the leaderboard and earned second-team All-America honors.
