JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — EUGENE BOUND!
George Mason University women's track and field junior Annabelle Eastman qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the steeplechase on the final day of the NCAA East Preliminaries.
The Melbourne, Australia native automatically advanced after taking third in the first heat with a time 9:54.68. She finished fifth overall after coming in ranked No. 6 in the East Region.
"The race plan with Annabelle was pretty simple, which was to stay calm in the beginning, and trust the patterns from some of the races earlier this season," said assistant coach Tony Mihalich. "With [first ranked Joyce Kimeli] in her heat, we had a good feeling of how it would start. Luckily it went to plan and Annabelle executed perfectly. She's an excellent competitor and thrives in the environment and it was really great to see her instinct just kick in. We are so proud that she is headed to Oregon!"
She became Mason's first-ever female national qualifier in the 3000m steeplechase. In addition, she will make her second NCAA championship appearance of 2021, having earned an at-large bid in cross country.
"I'm very excited, it feels good to get the big Q," said Eastman. "It's been a long week waiting around for my race but everyone has been so great with keeping the energy up. Thank you to everyone at Mason and back home in Australia for watching and supporting me. See you in Eugene!"
Eastman's historic season will continue on at one of the biggest stages of the sport. She is a three-time school record holder in the steeplechase, 3000m and 5000m — all set during the 2021 outdoor season.
At the A-10 Outdoor Championship, she broke the meet record in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal record of 9:53.07 to qualify for the regional meet.
During the 2021 cross country season, she ran the second-fastest time ever at the A-10 Cross Country Championships, finishing runner up, to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA meet. It marked Mason's first cross country qualifier since 1996.
Eastman will now look ahead to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held from June 9-12 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
