Irvine’s Akraka Fades to 7th

Maria Akraka of UC Irvine, running 1,500 meters at the NCAA track and field championships instead of her usual 800 meters, ran out of gas in the final and placed seventh in 4 minutes 18.67 seconds.

Akraka appeared to be running comfortably in the lead pack behind eventual winner Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge. But as Arreola began to press the pace, Akraka fell back.

The senior from Stockholm, Sweden, was in second place coming off the final turn. She fell apart in the final straight, however, and struggled to the finish line while being passed by a handful of runners.

Matt Farmer finished 13th in the decathlon with 7,121 points.

Farmer’s marks in the second day were: 15.80 in the 110 meter hurdles, 128 feet 10 inches in the discus, 13-11 1/4 in the pole vault, 166-11 in the javelin and 4:44.91 in the 1,500 meters.