Kolbe Captures Gold in 800m Finals to Cap Off ASUN Outdoor Championships

Saturday, May 11

Conway, Ark.

All Day

University of North Florida

ASUN Outdoor Championship - Day 3

Kolbe Captures Gold in 800m Finals to Cap Off ASUN Outdoor Championships

5/11/2024 11:00:00 PM | Men's Track, Women's Track

Final Results

Hernandez, D'Anna Take Silver in 400mH Finals

CONWAY, Ark. - North Florida track & field's Smilla Kolbe brought home the gold on the final day of the ASUN Outdoor Championships, while smashing both the ASUN meet record and her own program record that she set back in March in the women's 800m finals on Saturday evening.

The duo of Rey Hernandez and Celine D'Anna earned silver medals in the 400mH finals, while also setting personal records of their own. Ryan Douihech and Seth Martinez both earned fourth-place finishes in the men's 800m and 5000m finals respectively.

All told, UNF earned two gold medals over the course of the meet weekend with many personal records set. The Ospreys look ahead to the NCAA Outdoor East First Round from May 22-25 in Lexington, Ky.

FINISH LINE

Men

Hernandez earned a silver medal in the men's 400mH finals with a personal record of 52.58.
Douihech notched a fourth-place finish in the men's 800-meter finals while also setting a personal record with his time of 1:50.37.
Martinez raced to a fourth place finish in the men's 5000m finals with a time of 14:29.53.
Kameron Wallizada took home tenth place in the men's 5,000m finals, finishing in 14:40.18.
Cole Perry and Paul Lespasio both recorded top-20 finishes in the men's 5,000m finals.
The group of Hernandez, Douihech, Gavin O'Brien and Ben Tary finished seventh in the men's 4x400m relay finals with a time of 3:22.81.

Women

Kolbe set both the ASUN meet record and the program record for the women's 800m with her time of 2:01.63.
D'Anna recorded a second-place finish in the women's 400mH finals with her time of 1:01.34, a personal record.
Erica Fisher raced to a sixth place finish in the women's 5,000m finals, with a time of 17:02.55.
Batt, D'Anna, Epting & Kamara tallied a sixth-place finish in the women's 4x100-meter relay finals with a time of 47.80.
The group of Epting, D'Anna, Chandler and Kolbe took seventh place in the women's 4x400m relay finals with a time of 3:47.08.
Aleks Futschak & Kamara placed in the top-15 of the women's triple jump finals with their marks.
Isa Leen and Emma Millson earned top-20 finishes in the women's 5,000m finals.
Serenity Miller garnered an eighth-place finish in the women's 400mH finals.

PIGG'S THOUGHTS

"Smilla [Kolbe]'s 800m was just an outstanding race that puts her number seven on East Region list. It smashes our school record, which was already very good that she set earlier in the year, while also smashing the conference record as well, which was very strong. Smilla does all the little extra things that you can do. She's very focused and and works extremely hard. I wasn't just by chance that she ran really fast. She's focused and determined. She sees the big picture and is extremely dedicated and so extremely talented, so really proud of her.

Celine [D'Anna] coming up for second in the 400m hurdles was also just an outstanding race. I'm really proud of how hard she's worked and how far she's come, so that was a really exciting race to see as well. I thought Erica [Fisher] finishing off her track career placing in the 5000m was a really good job in a really good field, so sixth place there was great. I thought Ella [Chandler] did a great job in the 800m running a full second personal-best and placing in fourth in a very good field. It was a great way to end her season as well and it was a great race for us.

Rey [Hernandez] just did a fantastic job in the hurdles. He's been consistent all year long and that was a personal-best there at the end of the season and a race we really counted. He's had a great freshman year and just really proud of the impact he's made on our program in the 800m. Ryan [Douihech] did the same thing and worked hard all year to really step up when he finished a full second faster than he's ever ran in his life. It was such an exciting race and he did fantastic job in the 800m for us.

I was really impressed with Seth [Martinez] right after winning the 10,000m. It's really hard to do 25 laps, so it's really hard to come back and get your mind right and be ready to run that well again. He just got up front, ran in the pack, stayed strong and ignored the voices in his head that were telling him to slow down. It's pretty uncomfortable, so he did a fantastic job and I'm really proud of how well he came back on the 5000m."
-- head coach Jeff Pigg

OSPREY RESULTS

Women's TJ
Mariama Kamara - 12th - 10.76m (33'3")
Aleks Futschak - 14th - 10.13m (33'3")

Men's 4x100m Relay
Jonathan Bailey, Tariq LaJoie, Jacob Hippo, Rey Hernandez - DQ

Women's 4x100m Relay
Camryn Batt, Celine D'Anna, Melissa Epting, Mariama Kamara, Aleks Futschak, Serenity Miller - 6th - 47.80

Men's 100m
Jonathan Bailey - 8th - 10.76

Men's 800m
Ryan Douihech - 4th - 1:50.37 (PR)

Women's 800m
Smilla Kolbe - 1st - 2:01.63 (PR) (ASUN Meet Record) (Program Record)
Ella Chandler - 4th - 2:06.58

Men's 400mH
Rey Hernandez - 2nd - 52.58 (PR)

Women's 400mH
Celine D'Anna - 2nd - 1:01.34 (PR)
Serenity Miller - 8th - 1:09.97

Men's 5000m
Seth Martinez - 4th - 14:29.53
Kameron Wallizada - 10th - 14:40.18
Cole Perry - 11th - 14:40.49
Paul Lespasio - 18th - 14:56.42

Women's 5000m
Erica Fisher - 6th - 17:02.55
Isa Leen - 13th - 17:28.90
Emma Millson - 18th - 17:41.08

Men's 4x400m Relay
Rey Hernandez, Ryan Douihech, Gavin O'Brien, Ben Tary - 7th - 3:22.81

Women's 4x400m Relay
Celine D'Anna, Ella Chandler, Melissa Epting, Smilla Kolbe, Serenity Miller, Mariama Kamara - 7th - 3:47.08