Seidel Wins 3000M Steeplechase In Record Time

5/12/2017 10:51:00 PM | Women's Cross Country & Track

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Junior Isabel Seidel ran the fastest 3000M Steeplechase in school history on Friday night at the 2017 Dr. Keeler Invitational, winning the event by nearly eight seconds and putting herself in position for an invitation to the 2017 NCAA West Preliminaries in Austin, Texas.

Seidel clocked a 10:31.22, shaving more than two seconds off her previous best recorded earlier this spring at the Virginia Challenge. That performance currently ranks as the No. 46 time in the nation during the 2017 outdoor season, with the Top-48 being guaranteed invitations to the NCAA Preliminaries. Final rankings will be solidified following conference championships this weekend.

On Thursday night at North Central College, first-year student-athlete Aubrey Roberts ran her fastest time of the season in the 5000M race. Roberts' 16:25.23 stands as the second-fastest time in school history, behind only former student-athlete and assistant coach Audrey Huth.

The performance was more than 18 seconds faster of the runner-up, teammate Sarah Nicholson (16:43.63) and more than 49 seconds ahead of third-place. It was also a 12-second improvement on her top previous time this year (in a shortened outdoor season), the 16:37.31 turned in last weekend at the 2017 Oxy Invitational in southern California.

Roberts' time puts her much closer to the standard necessary for an invitation to the NCAA West Preliminaries. The current Top-48 cutoff for the 5000M race is 16:17.29.