SACRAMENTO, CALIF. ? Kansas University senior Jeremy Mims qualified for the finals of the 800-meter event Thursday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Mims finished second in his heat and fourth overall with a time of 1:48.14. In Saturday’s finals, Mims will try to overtake Auburn’s Sherridan Kirk (1:46.17), Texas Tech’s Jonathon Johnson (1:46.74) and Nebraska’s Dmitrijs Milkevics (1:48.02), who all qualified ahead of him.

Throwers Jen Widerstrom and Sheldon Battle also competed Thursday. Widerstrom failed to qualify in the women’s hammer throw, with her heave of 185 feet placing 19th in the qualifying round.

Battle placed 10th in men’s discus qualifying with a throw of 181-02. The finals will be at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

KU pole vaulters Amy Linnen and Ekaterina Sultanova will compete at 9 tonight in the third day of action at the NCAA Championships.