Larry Ellis Invitational 2006

Maria Dalzot of Morgantown qualified for the United States of America Track & Field Junior National Championships at the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, New Jersey late Friday night with a time of 17:49 for 5 kilometers. The qualifying time for the national championships was 17:55 so Dalzot easily achieved the standard in her second attempt at the distance. Dalzot placed 11th among 29 college and post-college runners and had the good fortune of being in a pack of runners from Syracuse, Columbia and Princeton who were attempting to hit the Big East Conference qualifier of 17:53 which helped pull her along to an 18 second personal record for the distance. Dalzot said \"I was one second over pace at two miles but was feeling confident that I could drop the pace over the final mile. I\'m thrilled with how I raced and I\'m even happier with the time.\" After a 5:45 first mile and 5:46 second, a 5:35 last mile proved she ran a very smartly paced race.