Providence College senior Mary Cullen entered the NCAA Indoor Championships among the favourites for the 3,000m and 5,000m events. On Friday night, Cullen enigmatically dropped out of the 5,000 metres.

Perhaps it was the early torrid pace set by Harvard's Lindsey Scherf or dehydration from the excessive warm temperatures on the day. The race was won by Amy Hastings from Arizona State in 15.51.63 well off Cullen's personal and seasonal best of 15.39.43. Maureen McCandless ran 15.56.51 to place 3rd in the 5k. McCandless, who competes for the University of Pittsburgh qualifies to run for Ireland if she decides to declare.

Cullen could have understandably avoided toeing the starting line for tonight's 3,000m final but showed up determined to compete. She'd be facing Northern Arizona's Johanna Nilsson who won the mile earlier in the evening in 4.37.78. Nilsson, from Sweden won the NCAA Cross Country Championships and placed 3rd in the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg in December 2005 where Cullen placed 11th overall and first in for Ireland. Nilsson pulled away from Cullen winning her second title of the evening in 9.06.61. Cullen avenged her performance with a second-place time of 9.10.22.

Iona College Senior Richard Kiplagat placed second in the men's 5,000 metres in 13.51.96. Kiplagat, from Marakwet, Kenya, is coached by Dubliner Mick Byrne. Kiplagat also placed second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Kiplagat ran 8.06.10 to place 4th in the 3,000-metre event behind winner Wisconsin's Chris Solinsky in 7.59.68.

Thomas Chamney (University of Notre Dame) ran 1.49.94 to place 5th in Heat 1 of 2 in 800m qualifier at the NCAA Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Centre in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Chamney, 21, advanced as a time qualifier. The top two finishers in each heat automatically advanced to tomorrow's final along with the next four fastest times. All of the fastest losers came from the first race.

An athlete can only hope to run their best in a championships race and that's exactly what Chamney did. The Crusaders athlete ran 1.48.50 to place 6th in the NCAA Indoor Championship 800 metres. His previous best was 1.48.62 set on the oversized track at Notre Dame. Jackson Langat, a senior at Texas Christian won the event in 1.47.02.

For more about Thomas Chamney from the Chammers himself, take a look at Chammers' Blog on Trackshark.com