CSUN’s Arreola Places Second in NCAA 1,500 Heat

Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge got her first taste of racing at high altitude in the NCAA track and field championships in Provo, Utah, on Thursday.

And although the experience was unpleasant for Arreola, her second-place finish in the first heat of the 1,500 meters (4 minutes, 21.90 seconds) eased some of the pain as she qualified for Saturday’s finals at Brigham Young University, which is 4,627 feet above sea level.

Nikki Toms of Northern Arizona placed first in 4:21.71.

The top two finishers in each heat and the next eight fastest finishers qualified for the finals.

“It (the altitude) was a lot worse than I expected,” said Arreola, who ran a personal best of 4:14.15 to place second in the 1,500 in last week’s Division II championships in Hampton, Va. “When I went out and ran this morning, it didn’t really bother me. But I was really breathing hard after the race. . . . I came here thinking PR (personal record), but after tonight, no way.”

That’s fine with Northridge Coach Don Strametz, who said that Arreola has had a tendency to place too much emphasis on running fast times.

“I’m hoping the altitude will make her relax,” Strametz said. “I’m hoping now that she’ll just concentrate on running a good race and not worry about running a good time.”

Arreola said that she will run to win Saturday’s final, although she conceded that Wisconsin junior Suzy Favor, the two-time defending champion, deserves to be favored.

Favor, who has run 4:10.60 this season, won the second heat in 4:20.75 on Thursday.