EUGENE, Ore. – On a cooler than normal afternoon at Hayward Stadium sophomore Samford track and field middle distance runner Karisa Nelson competed in the semifinals of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship 1,500 meter race on Thursday, June 9.

"Karisa made huge strides this year to put herself on the national scene." Head Coach Rod Tiffin said. "The next few years should be fun seeing how far she can take her talents. I'm really excited about her future."

Nelson achieved USTFCCCA All-American Honorable Mention as she finished 21^st overall with a time of 4:22.02.

Only 12 were able to advance from the semifinals to the championship race on Saturday. Nelson had to finish in the top five of her heat or have been one of the next two fastest times out of the 24 person field.

The Brewton, Alabama native had to wait for her heat to run behind the first heat of the afternoon. The initial heat of the 1,500 meters pushed the pace and ran a quick race as the top five automatic qualifiers ran just under 4:14.00 with the next two fastest times being 4:14.15 (Annie Leblanc – Oregon) and 4:14.54 (Maddie Alm – Colorado).

Nelson's heat ran much slower than the first making it hard for the anyone finishing outside of the top five to qualify for the championship race on Saturday. She would go on to finish 9^th in her heat.

Next up for the Bulldogs is sophomore distance runner Arsène Guillorel. Guillorel will compete in the men's 5,000 meter race late tomorrow evening.