The bar was set high at the ECAC championships, and only one of them was able to clear it. The men's and women's outdoor track teams sent Jane Farrell '06, Ryan Parker '07, Geff Fauchet '08 and Rachel Ackerman '05 to the ECAC championships in Springfield on May 19 and 20, but Farrell was the only one able to qualify for the NCAA championships, finishing the season with the fifteenth best time in a field of 21 who qualified.

"I'm really excited," Farrell said. "I'm ready to go even higher than I have before."

Farrell won the pole vault, while both Parker and Fauchet had high hopes after dominating meets earlier in the season, but were unable to match their earlier efforts.

The trip to Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa on Thursday will be Farrell's second trip to the NCAA championships, having earned All-American honors in the winter season's indoor championships.

She vaulted her way back onto the national stage with a height of 11 feet six and a half inches to take the ECAC New England crown. Her jump was two inches short of the mark that gave her the 15th-best time in the nation at the New England Division III championships and also set the a Bates College facility record.

Farrell took five attempts before completing the opening round jumps of 10 feet and 10 feet six inches.

"I was excited, I had nationals on my mind," Farrell said. "Coach [Mark Reytblat] was betting me that we would go to Six Flags if I got 12 feet."

After securing first place, Farrell attempted to clear 12 feet but fell short.

Ackerman led the runners with a sixth-place finish in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 39:01.90.

Parker finished in 12th place of 25 in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:55.54, while Fauchet finished 24th in the same event with a time of 1:59.47. It was a disappointing end to a season that had seen so much promise from the two runners.

Fauchet was named the UAA's Rookie of the Year this season after taking the UAA championship in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.35.

"I could have done a lot better," Fauchet said. "But I had a great season, and I'm looking forward to training hard for next year."

Parker, who has made three NCAA championships in his career, was not able to prolong his impressive outdoor season, which began with a personal-and New England Division III-best run of 1:54.21 at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on April 16.

"It was the end of the school year, and I was tired," Parker said. "In the end, I just didn't have the kick that I wanted to have."

Reytblat said the Judges were missing some athletes due to an early end to the academic year, and that he is looking forward to the team being more competitive next year.

"We had a good recruiting year," Reytblat said. "Next year is going to be one of our best years on the men's and women's side.