Five Spiders Qualify for the Final Round of the NCAA Championships!

This past weekend was a great one for the University of Richmond Track & Field team.  Ten of us competed in the NCAA East Region Championships in Bloomington, Indiana in different events: the 10k (Julie and me), 5k (Andrew, Nicol, Amy, Jill), 3k steeplechase (Andrew, Nicol, Jenn), hammer throw (Meaghan), discus (Monica), and javelin (Heather).  Everyone competed hard and even though some people may not have had their best days, our team was able to get five people through to the NCAA Championships, to be held next week in Des Moines, Iowa and hosted by Drake University.  Those five were Heather (javelin), Andrew (steeple), Nicol (steeple), Amy (5k), and me (10k).

As for my race, by Thursday (race day), I found myself slightly apprehensive, yet still confident at the same time.  I was 4th at this meet last year and went on to place 9th at the NCAA Championships, and I knew I was capable of qualifying again and hopefully I will improve my place this year to get on the podium in the final round.

After being taken to the line and doing a few strides, the gun sounded and we were off.  I had almost forgotten how hectic it can be when you put 48 people on the starting line!  We jostled for positions for about 200 meters, at which point I settled into about 5th place and stayed there for most of the race.  Going into the final lap, I knew I was in a group of ten so there was no need to kill myself over the last 400 meters and I was able to qualify comfortably in 8th place.  The goal going into the weekend was just to get through this round, and I was able to do that, which meant I got to spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and watching my teammates compete!  I was even able to spend a few hours by the pool while there was a break in the competition schedule.

I’m extremely excited to represent University of Richmond in my final collegiate track race next week in Des Moines, and I’ll continue to post updates here on the website so you can join me in my final weeks competing for UR!

Below I’ve attached a few photos courtesy of Mike Scott

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Happy running!

ML