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Interview With Lauren Wallace

The first day of the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships saw UC Davis senior Lauren Wallace advance to the 800-meter finals as she finished second in her semifinal heat and fifth overall.

Wallace was one of four Big West competitors in action at the University of Oregon's Historic Hayward Field Wednesday afternoon.

Wallace, the Big West champion in the 800, ran 2:04.05 in the first heat to finish just short of Natoya Goule of LSU.  Goule won the heat in 2:03.77.  LSU's Charlene Lipsey had the fastest 800 time of the day, finishing in 2:03.22.

The top two finishers in each heat plus the next two fastest finishes qualified for the final.

Wallace is the owner of the nation's fifth-fastest time, clocking a 2:03.39 at the Big West Championship meet May 11.

She will race for a national championship on Friday at 5:20 p.m., becoming the first Aggie in the program's Division I era to participate in a lane-race final.

In other action Wednesday, UC Santa Barbara senior Jennifer Carey finished seventh in the first heat and 20th overall with a time of 53.65 in the 400-meters.  Carey did not advance to the national final.

UC Davis sophomore Ashley Marshall, the Big West Female Track Athlete of the Year, flirted with her school record time (11.35) in the 100 semifinals but missed the top eight when she finished in 11.45.  Marshall was 18th overall in her first NCAA Championship appearance.

Cal State Northridge junior Carl Horsley competed in the first of two events in Eugene, the 100-meters.  Horsley impressed as he shaved one-tenth of a second off his school record, crossing in 10.22.  He initially broke a 15-year old school record at the West Prelim round in Austin two weeks ago when he finished his first round race in 10.23.

However, Horsley's blistering time was not enough to advance to Friday's finals.  He finished third in his heat and 13th overall.  Horsley will get another opportunity to reach the finals in his second event, the 200-meters, when he races Thursday at 4:15 p.m.

In addition to Horsley, four other Big West athletes will be in action Thursday as UC Riverside's Ted Hooper and Long Beach State's Willie Alexander compete in the long jump, UC Riverside's Damajeria Dubose races in the 1,500-meters and UC Davis sophomore Katie Fry takes the track in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.