Senior Macee Rivers punched her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and will represent Illinois State in the 100-meter hurdles, beginning with the preliminary round at 8:08 p.m. CT Thursday at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Thursday's competition will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Rivers finished ninth overall with a wind-legal school-record time of 13.02 at the NCAA West First Round to earn a spot in Eugene for the first time in her career.
"Leading up to my first national appearance, I'm feeling very excited," Rivers said. "I've worked very hard on and off the track since last summer, through the preseason and throughout this season. To finally see that the work I've put in has paid off makes me feel very proud of myself."
She is one of eight Missouri Valley Conference athletes to qualify for nationals and one of two in the 100-meter hurdles, joining Rachel Mehringer of Indiana State.
Rivers steadily improved throughout the season. She opened the outdoor campaign with a first-place finish at the Illini Deca-Jam, posting a wind-aided time of 13.67. She lowered that mark to 13.66 at the Gibson Invitational before running 13.32 at the John McDonnell Invitational.
She finished runner-up at the MVC Outdoor Championships with a personal-best wind-aided time of 12.91, earning a spot at regionals and becoming the first Illinois State women's hurdler to break the 13-second barrier under all conditions.
Of the 24 competing athletes across three heats, nine will advance to Saturday's 100-meter hurdles final. Rivers must either finish in the top two of her heat or post one of the next three fastest times overall to advance.
"I'm preparing myself by working on the small things that I may have been lacking in past races, both mentally and physically," Rivers said. "The name of the game this week is to put everything together and leave it all on the track."
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