NEW HAVEN, Conn. – This evening, senior Frances Schmiede punched her ticket to the NCAA National Championship in style in the quarterfinal of the 1,500-meter run. In doing so, she became the first Bulldog to do so for the team since Kate Grace '11 qualified in 2011 to compete in the 800-meter run at Nationals, placing fifth overall. What makes Schmiede's performances especially remarkable is that she smashed her previous record with a knockout performance, besting her own personal best by more than four seconds. She finished with a new school record of 4:13.13.
"Frances ran a very savvy race tonight," said women's distance coach Amy Gosztyla of tonight's historic performance. "She did a great job staying patient early in a really fast paced race. She has been preparing all season for this opportunity and she made the most of it. It's so great to see her hard work pay off. We're all so proud of her."
The first heat of tonight's quarterfinal went off at a blistering yet honest pace. In fact the top six, all of whom would eventually qualify, ran well below Schmiede's previous record of 4:17.50. So the second heat also went off at a rapid pace, with a pace hovering around a 4:30/mile. Yet Schmiede masterfully pushed herself to keep herself in contention of qualifying while not pushing the pace too early before the important bell lap. With most of the athletes still in contention, it was clear that the qualifiers would be decided based on who could kick hardest. Schmiede zipped around the straightaway at somehow an even more blistering last lap with a split of around 65 seconds. She sealed one of the five automatic qualifying spots with a time of 4:13.13, good for fourth place and a school record. It is also the fifth-fastest run in Ivy League history.
With tonight's performance, Schmiede guarantees her spot in the National Championships in two weeks. She will join 24 of the nation's best middle-distance runners in hopes of finishing her collegiate career on top. More information about that meet will be posted as it becomes available in the coming weeks.
Recap by Ariel A. Sánchez '19, Yale Sports Publicity
