BRADENTON, Fla. (May 26, 2016) – In a year in which she has produced so many program firsts already, senior Alyssa Lambert (Manchester, N.H.) of the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team added another benchmark on Thursday evening, on the first day of the NCAA Championships, hosted by University of Tampa and IMG Academy at IMG Academy. In preliminary heats of the 1500 meters, Lambert posted a time which qualified for Saturday's final, meaning she will become the first woman in program history to earn All-America honors.

The 1500-meter preliminaries featured 21 student-athletes across two heats, with the top four finishers in each heat, plus the next four fastest times overall, qualifying for Saturday's 12-runner final. Lambert ran a time of 4:29.11 to finish fourth (out of 10) in the first of the two heats and earn an automatic qualifying spot to the final. Lambert's time ranked eighth overall among times run on Thursday.

Lambert's heat was won by senior Emily Oren of Hillsdale, who turned in a time of 4:28.67, which ranked fifth on the day. The top four times all came from the second heat, led by senior Lynelle Decker of Seattle Pacific, who stopped the clock at 4:27.34.

The final in the 1500 meters is set for 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 28 at IMG Academy.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce track and field apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' brand new online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).