GENEVA, Ohio – Senior captain Sophie Drew made her NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship debut on Thursday afternoon as she placed 17th in the 1,500 meters. Drew finished eighth overall running in the second of the two qualifying heats. The top four finishers in each heat, plus the next four fastest times (12 runners overall) advanced to the national championship in that event which will be run on Saturday at 12:25 p.m.
On an extremely windy afternoon with 21 mile per hour winds, Drew was in position to make the final four qualifiers but her time of 4:46.03 was bested by the fifth-place finisher from the opening heat to deny her a spot in the final. Drew was in the faster of the two heats overall as the fifth through seventh place finishers from her heat all took provisional qualifying times in addition to the top four automatic qualifiers who advanced to the finals.
Drew finishes her career as a six-time All-Centennial Conference performer, earning those honors twice during the outdoor season and four times on the indoor surface. Her NCAA qualification made her the 32nd individual to represent Haverford's women's team at the outdoor track & field national championships. The Fords have combined for 17 All-American finishes (top 8) from those qualifiers. Drew made it three straight seasons a Haverford runner has qualified for the 1,500 meter field on the women's side as they have sent a total of eight qualifiers in that event dating back to the earliest days of the program.
Drew's name can be found all over the Haverford College record books as she graduates as the seventh-fastest 1,500 meter runner in school history. Earlier this season, she won 1,500 meter individual championships at the Bill Butler and Widener Invitational. Drew has also been part of the fourth and sixth-quickest 4x800 relays during her outdoor career.
In addition to her athletic prowess, Drew has excelled in the classroom as one of Haverford's 16 Ambler Scholar-Athletes, presented to the senior student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade point averages. She is a nine-time Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll selection, been selected to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team, and will earn USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete status for the third time later this spring while holding a double-major in biology and Spanish.