POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – Senior Michelle Gaye of the Marist women's track & field team has become the first female runner in program history to qualify for the NCAA East Regional Championship meet.
Gaye qualified in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:20.07, which was set at the Stanford Invitational on April 3. That time is the 24th best in the East Region this season. The top 48 declared athletes in both the East and West Regions compete in the NCAA Regional meet. Gaye's seed in the East may end up higher than 24th depending on the number of athletes who declare for the meet.
The NCAA East Regional Championship meet will be held at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida on Thursday, May 28. The 10,000-meter race will take place at 9 p.m. The race will be a national semifinal, as the top 12 runners from the East and West Regions will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will take place from June 10-13 at the University of Oregon.
The only other Marist athlete to qualify for the NCAA Regional meet was Will Griffin in 2011. Griffin also competed in the 10,000 meters.
Gaye is the current school record holder in the outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meters, and indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters. She broke the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record and set the school record in the 5K at this year's conference championships, and broke the record at the ECAC Championships this past Friday. Gaye was named ECAC All-East in the 5K in both the indoor and outdoor seasons this year. In cross country, Gaye is the first athlete in school history to win an individual ECAC Championship, which happened this past fall. She also is the first runner in program history to finish in the top 10 of the MAAC Championships all four years of her career.
