Coe’s Finnel kicks hard to win 800

By Rob Gray, Correspondent

DES MOINES - Coe's Keelie Finnel simply focused on lowering her time.

Winning the unseeded section of the women's 800-meters event at Thursday's Drake Relays didn't remotely cross her mind. Until it happened.

Finnel, a junior, forged a furious late charge to jet past Arkansas' Martine Borge and triumph with a time of 2:06.83.

“It hasn't really hit me yet,” said Finnel, who according to Coe sports information, became the first female Kohawk to win at the 102-year-old Relays. “This is huge. This is the Drake Relays. This is awesome. Very cool.”

Pretty fast, too.

Finnel's time of 2:06.83 is nearly four seconds lower than the previous outdoor best in Division III this season, a 2:10.79 achieved by Wisconsin-Platteville's Ann Tank.

“One of my definite strengths in the 800 is I came from being a 400 and 200 runner,” said Finnel, who ran the 800 in 2:12.79 two weeks ago in the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake. “So I have that natural speed. It was just the strength we needed to build up. We worked on that this season and it's finally starting to get to where it needs to be.”

Finnel, of Francis Creek, Wis., got to the front to claim her historic mini Relays flag by outkicking then-leader Borge on the home stretch.

“I wasn't trying to win the meet,” Finnel said. “I just wanted to run a good time and with about 200 to go she was right there. I knew if I kicked it in I was pretty sure I could get her. Awesome feeling. Just an awesome feeling.”

Especially for someone who didn't plan on winning - initially, at least.

“I usually know that if I'm within striking distance at the end of the race, I'm golden,” Finnel said.

Finnel's triumph came on the heels of another athlete with Eastern Iowa college ties rising to the top at Drake - again. Former Northern Iowa standout Mat Clark earned his second men's decathlon title in three years in momentous fashion.

Clark needed a time of 4:25.63 or better in the final event, the 1,500, to raise his winning score to 7,500, thus qualifying for the June 23-26 U.S.A. Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Eugene, Ore.

He finished it in 4:25.58 - cementing his third straight trip to the championships by five one-hundreth of a second.

“So I just barely got it, but I'm really happy,” said Clark, who won the Relays decathlon in 2009. “It doesn't get any better than this.”

Minnesota outdistanced Iowa by 11 seconds to win the women's 6,400 relay. The Gophers have won the event five of the past six years. Iowa State finished third.

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