NCAA championships: Bozeman's Hayley Burns runs into final, Montana State duo earns All-America honors

EUGENE, Ore. — A Bozeman product won her heat and a pair of Montana State Bobcats earned second-team All-America honors Thursday at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships at Hayward Field.

Hayley Burns, a Northern Arizona runner from Bozeman, will run in the final of the women's 1,500 meters this weekend, while Montana State's Tilde Bjerager and Sydney Brewster concluded their seasons as second-team All-Americans.

Burns won her heat of the 1,500 meters with a time of 4 minutes, 9.48 seconds. The junior was in sixth place rounding the final curve but out-kicked the five runners ahead of her to take the second heat's top qualifying time into Saturday's final. Oregon's Juliet Cherubet and Silan Ayyildiz placed second and third in the heat in 4:09.54 and 4:09.58, respectively.

Burns qualified for her first NCAA outdoor championships by winning the Big Sky Conference title in the 1,500 and then placing eighth in the event at the NCAA West regional meet last month.

The first heat was the faster of the two 1,500-meter heats, with Washington State sophomore Rosemary Longisa earning the top qualifying time in 4:06.41. Burns' 4:09.48 is the eighth-fastest qualifying time overall.

The 1,500-meter final is Saturday at 6:12 p.m. Mountain time.

Bjerager, meanwhile, just missed qualifying for the final in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing her incredible freshman season as a second-team All-American. Bjerager, who won the Big Sky title in the 400 hurdles and placed eighth at the West regional, had a strong finish to place third in the second heat Thursday with a time of 56.36 seconds.

South Carolina's Akala Garrett won the second heat with the top overall qualifying time of 54.49 seconds, and Nebraska's Kelsie Belquist was second at 55.94 seconds.

The top two finishers in each heat, plus the next three fastest times, advanced to the final. Bjerager's 56.36 was the 11th-fastest overall time.

Bjerager also ran a leg on Montana State's 4x400-meter relay team, which was competing at the outdoor championships for the second consecutive season. The Bobcats, which also featured Peyton Garrison, Giulia Gandolfi and Caroline Hawkes running legs Thursday, finished in 3:32.97, eighth in their heat and 23rd overall.

Arkansas won MSU's heat of the relay with the fastest overall qualifying time of 3:21.90.

The Bobcats' Brewster also finished the outdoor championships as a second-team All-American in the shot put. Brewster, competing in the second flight, marked a best throw of 54 feet, 6 inches (16.61 meters) to place 10th in her flight and 14th overall.

Brewster won gold medals in both the shot put and discus at the Big Sky Conference championship meet. She placed fifth in the shot at the West regional but no-marked in the discus.

Nebraska senior Axelina Johansson won Thursday's shot put with a meet-record throw of 65-4¼ (19.92 meters).

Abby Kendrick, a Missoula Hellgate grad now at Boise State, also competed Thursday. Kendrick placed 11th in her heat of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:12.40. Virginia Tech's Julie Linder won the heat in 9:44.43.

The NCAA outdoor championships continue Friday with men's individual events and the women's heptathlon. Helena native Logan Todorovich is competing in the heptathlon for Baylor and is ranked ninth in the country.