June 5, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As her record setting career comes to an end for Lamar University, senior Amanda King has one last track meet to run in, and this meet is the biggest one of her career, the National Championship Track Meet, held June 6-9 in Sacramento, Calif.

King, a senior from Tauranga, New Zealand, will run in the prelims of the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase at 8:25 p.m. pacific time on Wednesday. She will be running in heat one of two, with the top five finishers of each heat and the next four fastest finishers qualifying for the finals which are scheduled for 7:25 p.m. on Friday.

King enters the meet ranked 20th in the NCAA this season, with a career-best time of 10:16.99, which she ran at the Southland Conference championship meet on May 5, in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Southland Conference record holder finished in third place at the South Central Regional meet two weeks ago, with a 10:20.68 performance.

"Making it to nationals is a great way for Amanda to end her career," head coach Trey Clark said. "She has had a wonderful, record setting career at Lamar University, and now the opportunity to face to best of the best at the NCAA championship meet is very special."

This is the first time in her career that King has advanced to the NCAA championships. Last season she missed the mark at the regional meet and did not receive an at large bid, which led her to set her goal to make nationals before the 2006-07 school year began.

"This has been my goal all year long, and it is great to be here," King said. "I want to start strong and stay in the front like I did at the regional meet, and hopefully my jumping will be better this time around. If I can do that, I feel like I will make it to the finals on Friday."