BRADENTON, Fla. (May 25, 2017) – Catherine Purves (Dalkeith, Scotland) of the Franklin Pierce University women's track & field team capped a successful freshman season on Thursday night, as she took to the track in the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Tampa and IMG Academy. One of only four freshmen to qualify for the national meet in the event, she finished 22nd, out of 22 competitors.

Purves competed in the third of three heats in the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday night, and finished seventh in the seven-member heat. Her time of 1:03.90 was nearly four seconds off of her season best.

Still, Purves became the first freshman in program history to advance to the NCAA Championships. Her fastest time of the year, which was a mark of 59.96 seconds run on April 27 at the Penn Relays, tied her for 13th in the country heading into the national meet. Purves was one of just 14 runners in the nation to break the one-minute mark in the event this spring.

Purves' outing concluded the 2016-17 slate for Franklin Pierce's women's track & field team. Dage Minors will hit the track for the men on Friday evening at 6:20 p.m., for the preliminary heats of the 800 meters.

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).