Two weeks ago Kristie Schoffield was crowned the NCAA Division I women’s 800-meter champion. Now she’s running on an even bigger stage, taking her place next to Olympians.
Schoffield finished second in her heat in Thursday’s preliminary round and third in her semifinal heat on Friday night to advance to Sunday’s 800-meter finals of the USATF Outdoor Championships, the U.S. national track and field meet that is also serving as a qualifying meet for this year’s World Athletics Championships.
Schoffield ran a 2 minute, 2.22 second half-mile in Thursday’s prelim and clocked a 2:02.43 on Friday night. Her personal best is the 2:01.09 she ran to win the NCAA title for Boise State University.
A Merrimack Valley High School graduate raised in Loudon and Penacook, Schoffield’s goal was to advance to the national finals, and now that she’s there she’ll face the most competitive field of her racing career.
All three women who represented the United States at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are also running in Sunday’s final – gold medallist Athing Mu, bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers and semifinalist Ajee Wilson.
Sunday’s final will be televised live on NBC at 4:24 p.m.