AUSTIN, Texas—Freshman Sanaä Barnes (Keller, Texas) and graduate student Caroline Alcorta (Springfield, Va.) closed out competition at the NCAA Championships with successful performances in the high jump and the 5000 meters at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on Saturday evening.  Barnes tied for sixth place in the high jump and Alcorta came in 11^th in the 5000 meters in her second distance race in the last three nights. 
 
This is the second straight first team All-America performance in the high jump for Barnes, who came in fourth in the event indoors.  She is the only women's athlete ever from Villanova to score in any of the jumps at the NCAA Championships indoors or outdoors.  Barnes cleared the bar at a height of 1.81 meters (5' 11.25") in Saturday's competition, with that height just one centimeter off her season best and outdoor school record performance from the Penn Relays in April. 
 
The high jump competition opened at a height of 1.70 meters (5' 7") and the bar next moved to 1.75 meters (5' 8.75") before rising at three centimeter increments the rest of the way.  Barnes was third in the jumping order and made it comfortably over the bar at each of the first two heights, as well as at 1.78 meters (5' 10") to start the day 3-for-3.  Those first three jumps were reminiscent of the NCAA East Preliminary two weeks ago when Barnes was successful on all three of her jumps (at 1.70m, 1.75m and 1.80m) to tie for first place at the regional meet. 
 
The initial field of 24 competitors had been whittled to 15 when the bar was raised to 1.81 meters.  That was where Barnes had her first miss of the day, but she cleared the bar on her second try at the height to advance in the competition.  Just eight athletes remained when the bar moved to 1.84 meters (6' 0.25"), which guaranteed each of those athletes first team All-America honors.  Barnes missed on her three attempts at that height, which claimed all but three of the athletes left. 
 
Barnes was one of just two freshmen who qualified for the NCAA Championships in the high jump.  Her first collegiate outdoor season included a school record at 1.82 meters (5' 11.5") and a BIG EAST title at 1.81 meters.  She was also the conference champion indoors and set the outright school record at 1.84 meters at the indoor NCAA meet. 
 
The last race of the week for the Wildcats was the final of the 5000 meters.  Alcorta recorded a time of 16:18.66 less than 48 hours after she finished fifth in the 10K on Thursday night.  She ran at the same steady pace that she showed two nights earlier, with each of her first seven full laps around the track having splits between 76 and 79 seconds.  Alcorta was one of only four women to double in the 5000 meters and the 10000 meters. 
 
It was an incredible finish to the outdoor season for Alcorta, who was also the BIG EAST champion in both long distance events.  She then went on to place seventh in the 10000 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary, followed by a wire-to-wire victory in her national semifinal heat of the 5000 meters.  Alcorta was also a part of Villanova's winning Championship of America squad in the 4x1500 meter relay at the Penn Relays. 
 
The final day of the NCAA Championships brought blistering heat to the Mike A. Meyers Stadium track.  It was 98 degrees with a heat index of 103 when Barnes got underway in the high jump at 5 p.m. local time.  When the national TV broadcast went on the air about 90 minutes later, a thermometer placed on the track estimated the temperature of the track surface to be over 115 degrees.
 
Villanova closed out the collegiate season with big-time performances at the NCAA Championships.  Alcorta and Barnes combined to score 6.5 team points for the Wildcats, who finished in 38^th place out of 71 teams that scored at least one point at the meet.  This is the 28^th time in the 38-year history of the meet that Villanova has scored team points.