June 5, 2008

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Both freshman Kate Grace and senior Lindsay Donaldson were selected as "at-large" bids and are thus eligible to compete at the 2008 NCAA outdoor track and field championships, held from June 11 till June 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.

All athletes that finished between sixth and twelfth place at their NCAA regional championships (held on May 30 and 31) were put into a drawing pool and those with the fastest seasonal bests were selected to be invited to the national championship. This year, the number of total participants in each individual event ranged between 27 and 30 athletes, thus seven to ten athletes were given "at-large" bids (the top five finishers in each of four regions, 20 athletes, automatically qualified).

Grace's new personal best of 2:06.12, run in the preliminary heat of the East regional 800-meter run, ranks her 18th in a field of 27 at the national championship. Donaldson's seasonal best in the 5,000-meter run, 16:24.01 (set at the Penn Relays on April 24), ranks her 15th in a field of 27.

report by Ted Galligan '10, Yale Sports Publicity