Rachel King Concludes 2018 Season at Eugene

Wednesday, June 6

Eugene, Ore.

Wed: 2:30 p.m. CST | Thurs: Noon CST | Fri: 2:30 p.m. CST | Sat: 1:30 p.m. CST

South Dakota State University

NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships

6/7/2018 7:50:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Results: NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships

King finishes her junior year with a 12th-place finish in the second heat of the 3,000S semifinals, 23rd overall (10:27.92)

EUGENE, Ore. - South Dakota State's junior Rachel King concluded her 2018 outdoor track and field campaign with a 12th-place finish (10:27.92) in the second heat, 23rd overall, in the 3,000m steeplechase semifinals at the NCAA Track and Field Championships on Thursday evening.

"I am truly blessed for the opportunity I had this season and the achievements I've accomplished," King said. "Obviously I am disappointed in the results but I am also motivated moving forward towards cross country and track next season."

"It was a great experience for her to be here in this environment and learn how things work at this stage," head coach Rod DeHaven explained. "It wasn't the results we were looking for, but it was a great season for Rachel."

The last qualifying spot had a time of 9:57.72, which was just 0.03 seconds faster than King's personal-best mark (9:57.75) set at the NCAA West Preliminaries on May 25 to qualify for competition at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

"I didn't have quite the roller coaster of emotions that I had in the prelims but definitely felt the nerves before the race quite a bit." King explained. "I think a combination of the stage and adjusted warm-ups had an impact, along with the length of the season and being the lone SDSU athlete here; but I can't complain - I am proud of the season I had."

Coach DeHaven added similar comments about the situation. "I think going this deep into the season, never doing it before, the stage of the NCAA Championships, and everyone else on the team being done and moving onto the summer had an impact on King."

Although the St. Michael, Minn. native did not advance to the championship steeple race, she finished her junior year with numerous school records and was the school's first-ever female Jackrabbit in NCAA Division I era to compete on the track for the championships.

She extended the SDSU streak of having a Jackrabbit in the NCAA Track and Field Championships to three straight years, and was the first female since 2016. (Jazzelina Black in 2016 - TJ, 16th, 42-03.25, Kyle Burdick in 2017 - 1,500m, 13th, 3:43.78, and King in 2018 - 3,000S, 23rd, 10:27.92).

Throughout the 2018 season, she reset the school's steeplechase record twice, four times in her career. Earlier in the season, King finished with a time of 10:01.14 at the Stanford Invitational (3/30-31), which first reset the school record in the 2018 outdoor season. It was 21st in the world that weekend.

At the NCAA prelims (5/24-26), she knocked off 3.39 seconds on her PR to grab an automatic qualifying spot (third place in her heat) and a 10th-place overall finish (9:57.75). It ranked 62nd in the world and 14th in the NCAA.

At the Summit League Outdoor Championships, King won the 3,000S by 21.41 seconds for her first outdoor league championship win of her career.

Not only did the junior improve in the steeplechase during the season, but she posted five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), moved to second all-time in the 1,500m, and was apart of the DMR that beat the school record (11:23.20) at the Drake Relays (4/25-28) by 14.80 seconds during the 2018 indoor and outdoor seasons.

Rachel King finishes her junior season with a 12th-place finish in the 2nd heat of the #NCAATF 3,000SC semifinals!

She finished 23rd overall (10:27.92) and was the first female Jackrabbit to compete on the track in the championships!

Congratulations Rachel! ????#GoJacks pic.twitter.com/CdnxbquuvG
— SDSU Track/XC (@GoJacksTFXC) June 8, 2018

SEASON NOTES: Competed in nine events in 2018 outdoor ... first career appearance in the NCAA Championships, first female Jackrabbit to be on the track in the championships, finishing 23rd (12th in the second heat) in the semifinals of the steeplechase with a time of 10:27.92 ... she competed in the 3,000m steeplechase and qualified for the 5,000m (did not compete) at the NCAA West Prelims (5/24-26) … it was her third time in her career competing in the 3,000m steeplechase at the NCAA Prelims (best performance was in 2018, second-best: 2016 - 38th, 10:52.89) ... Won the 3,000m steeplechase (10:20.41) and finished runner-up in the 1,500m (4:30.56) to earn her first outdoor all-league honors at The Summit League Championships (5/10-12) ... beat everyone in the steeplechase by 21.41 seconds in the steeplechase for her first career outdoor championship win ... her 15th track win of her career, third in the steeplechase ... recorded her PR in the steeplechase at the Stanford Invite (3/30-31) where she finished fifth (10:01.14) ... her steeple PR reset her school record, trimming off 9.57 seconds, best in the league by 28.25 seconds, was fifth in the NCAA and 21st in the world (that weekend) ... now ranks 14th in the NCAA and 52nd in the world (as of 5/20) ... leads the league in the 5,000m with a personal-best mark set at the Bryan Clay (4/19-20) by 36.97 seconds, which ranks is the school record by 15.71 seconds ... notched a PR in the 1,500m at the Bryan Clay, which is the league's second-best time, behind by 1.99 seconds, and the school's second-best all-time mark, behind by 3.62 seconds ... during the 2018 IN/OUT track and field season, King has posted five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), moved to second all-time in the 1,500m, and was apart of the DMR that beat the school record at the Drake Relays (4/25-28) by 14.80 seconds and finished seventh (11:23.20)

CAREER NOTES: King has posted five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), moved to second all-time in the 1,500m, and was apart of the DMR that beat the school record (11:23.20) at the Drake Relays (4/25-28) by 14.80 seconds during the 2018 IN/OUT season … 2018 indoors: won the mile, 3,000m and second in the 5,000m to earn Championship Track MVP … third time in her career competing in the 3,000m steeplechase at the NCAA Prelims (best performance there in 2018 - 10th, 9:57.75) … in 2017 track and field (sophomore year), she was the first SDSU women's TF athlete named as the league's indoor athlete of the year … had three school records and six top 10 all-time performances in 2017 (IN: 3,000m - school record, Mile - third, 5,000m - fifth; OUT: 5,000m- school record, 3,000m steeplechase - school record, 1,500m - seventh) … reset the school record (9:34.21) in the IN 3,000m at the league championships (2/24-25) … first reset the outdoor 5,000m 33-year-old school record at the 2017 Drake Relays (4/26-29) and set the school record twice in the 3,000m steeplechase, first (10:14.08) at the Stanford Invite (3/31-4/1) and then again (10:10.71) at the Mt. SAC Relays (4/13-15) … at the end of the 2016 track season (freshman year), King had four top 10 marks all-time (IN: 3,000m - fourth, Mile - fifth, OUT: 3,000m Steeplechase - second, 5,000m - fifth)… during 2017 cross country, she earned NCAA All-Region honors for a 10th-place finish, first among Jackrabbits (20:28.2), at the NCAA Midwest Regionals (11/10) (season's league-best 6k, best 6k performance of her career, fastest 6k in the regionals for SDSU) ... just missed an opportunity to run at the NCAA XC Championships … won (20:53.54) The Summit League Championship (10/28), earning Championship MVP, first-team All-League and claiming third place on The Summit League's all-time fastest championship winning time list (ranks fifth on the league's fastest times in the championship race, fastest at the championships for SDSU) … she improved her championship time by 19.2 seconds … earned academic all-league and Summit League XC Athlete of the Year for the performances throughout the year … finished sixth overall (21:56.3) in the 2016 XC league championships to earn Newcomer of the Championship … career wins and top-three finishes: XC: three wins, four top-threes; ITF: 11 wins, 16 top-three's, 23 total events; OTF: six wins, seven top-three's, 23 total events (three 3,000S wins, three 3,000S top-three's, nine 3,000S attempts - three in the NCAA Prelims) … wins and top-three finishes in 2017-18: XC: two wins (one was league championship), two top-three's; ITF: five wins, seven top-three's, eight total events (two wins in league championships - Mile, 3,000m; top-three 5,000m finish at league championships); OTF: one win (league championships 3,000S), two top-three's (both at league championships - 3,000S, 1,500m) (one 3,000S win out of two attempts, finished fifth at Stanford - 21st in world that weekend, school record) … ranked 14th in the NCAA and 62nd in the world (as of 6/6)

-GoJacks.com-