Aliya Garozzo is off to the NCAA Championships in the 400-meter hurdles after qualifying at the NCAA East Prelims in Jacksonille.
Garozzo, a Duke grad student from Paul VI via Penn, ran 56.46 in the quarterfinals at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida to advance to the semifinals at Hayward Field in Eugene later this month.
Garozzo ran two of her three-fastest times ever in Jacksonville, with a 56.16 in the first round and the 56.46 in the second round. She PR’d at 55.77 in April in Durham, N.C.
This is her first time getting out of regional prelims to the NCAA Championships.Garozzo is ranked 39th in the world and 14th among U.S. women.
Garozzo will race in the NCAA semifinals at 6:14 p.m. June 12. The final is scheduled for 7:27 p.m. on June 14.
Garozzo is ranked 11th of the qualifiers heading for Eugene from both the East Prelims in Jacksonville and West Prelims in College Station, Texas.
Duke’s 1,600-meter relay team also qualified for NCAAs after running 3:27.87, the 2nd-fastest time in school history. Garozzo led off in 53.25.
Pennsville graduate Arianni Smith, a senior at Howard, ran 57.20 and missed advancing to Eugene by 4-100ths of a second.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 