Katie Rainsberger's collegiate career ends where it started with third place finish in steeple...

EUGENE--The storied collegiate career of Washington's Katie Rainsberger (Paul Merca photo) ended where it all began, as she ran to a third place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon.

Rainsberger, who only took up the steeple for the first time this spring, ran much of the race between third and sixth, making a few moves to get better looks at the barriers, and making up good ground on the water jumps. Going into the final lap, she was in a lead pack of five, and Rainsberger was the first runner to make a move for the lead, with 250-meters to go. She had a half-step lead over the final water jump, but Auburn's Joyce Kimeli surged on the inside and moved slightly ahead. As the two raced for the finish, Mahala Norris of Air Force made a big kick on the outside and was able to get past Rainsberger and Kimeli and take the win in 9:31.79.

Kimeli was second in 9:31.84, and Rainsberger third in a new UW school record 9:32.12, eclipsing her mark of 9:36.71 set in the semis on Thursday. Those times were the sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-fastest times in NCAA history, with Rainsberger also posting the No. 2 time in Pac-12 history. Her time was just over two seconds away from the Olympic standard of 9:30.00.

"Katie ran the best race of her life," said UW director of track/cross country Maurica Powell, who recruited Rainsberger to Oregon before taking the UW job in July 2018. "For her to show up at the NCAA Championships back at Hayward Field after all these years, under those circumstances to run the best race of her life was outstanding.

The First Team All-America honor was the 13th and final All-America honor of Rainsberger's career. The third-place finish matched the third-place she earned at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships for her best Nationals finish. It tied Mel Lawrence for the best finish by a Husky in the steeplechase, as Lawrence was third in 2009.

Woodinville native Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame finished tenth in 9:48.73.

Meanwhile, the Huskies' Ida Eikeng finished fifth in the heptathlon with a school record 5920 points to become the first Husky to score at nationals in the multi-events.

Eikeng, a native of Norway who was second at the break with 3672 points, managed a long jump of 18-7.25 (5.67m), before rallying to win the javelin with a throw of 163-9 (49.92m), the longest throw in a heptathlon competition at Hayward Field to move back to second.

She exceeded her collegiate PR in the 800, running 2:34.34, but lost three places in the final event. Texas A&M's Tyra Gittens ran away with the national title with a score of 6285 points.

Teammate and Pac-12 heptathlon champ Lyndsey Lopes finished 12th with a final score of 5542 points. Lopes, who started the day with 3364 points, jumped 18-4.25 (5.59m) in the long jump, threw the javelin 122-11 (37.47m), and finished the 800 in 2:19.28.

Washington State's Stephanie Cho earned first team All-America with an eighth place finish in the 400 hurdles, as the native of Vancouver, BC ran a personal best 57.48, as the top two finishers came from the Pac-12 Conference in USC's Anna Cockrell (54.68) and Arizona's Shannon Meisberger (55.70).

Washington's Haley Herberg, who two days earlier was fifth in the 10000, doubled back in the 5000 and finished tenth in 15:47.46, as Elly Henes of NC State won in 15:28.05.

Washington State's Charisma Taylor finished 18th in the triple jump with a best of 43-1.5 (13.14m), while teammate Suzy Pace was 19th in the high jump with a personal best 5-10 (1.78m).

The complete results of the four days of competition at the NCAA championships is available here.

NOTE: The NCAA, the USTFCCCA, the University of Oregon, and the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, and Notre Dame contributed to this report.

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