FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Competing in the NCAA West Prelims for the second year in a row, Rayna Stanziano put some of her demons from 2021 to rest on Thursday afternoon. Stanziano was the fifth-fastest runner in the third heat of the 1500m on Thursday, earning an automatic qualifying spot to the second round of the 1500m, to be held on Saturday.
 
After failing to advance to the second round last season, Stanziano ran a more efficient race this time around, where she saved her best stuff for the ending. After 300m, Stanziano found herself in tenth place, clearly saving some gas in the tank for the final few hundred meters. She remained in tenth place at the halfway point, and that's when she turned on the burners.
 
Stanziano found herself in eighth place with 400m remaining, having run the previous 400m in 1:0987, an improvement of about seven seconds from her second leg of the race. She still had plenty left to go in the final stretch of the race, posting the fastest split time in the final 400m with her mark of 1:05.88, which vaulted her all the way up to fifth, good enough for the final qualifying spot from her heat.
 
Her overall time of 4:18.61 was within three one-hundredths of a second of third place, and was the second-fastest time of a West Coast Conference runner in that heat (Alicia Anderson, Gonzaga). She beat two other runners from the West Coast Conference in Abigail Pradere (San Francisco) and Anastaysia Davis (BYU).
 
"Rayna executed the race plan very well," said head coach Marty Kinsey. "She did everything she needed to do to advance and will have an opportunity for the quarterfinals on Saturday."
 
This puts Stanziano in position to have a unique opportunity to earn her way to Eugene, Oregon for the NCAA Championship in multiple events. She will race in the quarterfinals of the 1500m on Saturday at 2:15 pm PT before taking part in the 5000m semifinals at 5:10 pm PT. If she is able to finish inside the top-five in either of her heats on Saturday, she will become the first Gael to reach the NCAA Championship, which takes place in the second week of June.