EUGENE, Ore. – Eastern Kentucky University freshman Carina Schrempf ran 2:06.48 in the first heat of the women's 800 meters semifinals at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday night at historic Hayward Field.
 
The time was not fast enough to advance Schrempf to the finals of the event; however, it was fast enough to guarantee her a 15^th place finish and second team All-America honors. The top eight finishers in every event earn first team All-America honors, while the eighth – 16^th finishers receive second team All-America nods.
 
Eight athletes advanced to Saturday's finals: the top-two finishers in each of the three heats, plus the next two fastest times.
 
Schrempf finished eighth in easily the fastest of the three heats. Her time of 2:06.48 was actually the 13^th fastest in the race. The top-two finishers from the second heat (Oregon's Raevyn Rogers/2:06.94 and Florida's Claudia Francis/2:07.77) both ran slower times than Schrempf, but earned automatic advances.
 
Schrempf finishes the year as the No. 3 freshman in the country in the 800 meters. She defeated runners from schools such as BYU, Baylor, Georgetown, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Ole Miss in the race.
 
Schrempf ran a school-record 2:04.76 at the NCAA East Region Preliminaries to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The native of Styria, Austria won the 800 meters at both the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships this season.
 
EKU senior Ole Hesselbjerg will compete in the finals of the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase on Friday night at around 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.