FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (June 10, 2009) - Senior Heidi Dahl (Orem, Utah) will begin her quest for an NCAA National Championship on Thursday evening when the Lady Buccaneer runner hits the track in the prelims of the 1500m at John McDonnell Field, located on the campus of the University of Arkansas.  

Dahl moved her way into the National Championship field after winning the Mideast Regional crown two weeks ago in Louisville. At the meet, the Orem, Utah native, went head-to-head with instate rival Sarah Bowman from Tennessee, and Dahl handed the Lady Volunteer runner her only loss of the season in the 1500m after finishing with a time of 4:22.16.

Dahl, who currently holds the 11th fastest time in the 27-woman field with a mark 4:18.08 (set at the Atlantic Sun Championships back in May), will race at 8:55 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. The regional and conference champion will race in heat one (of three) of the event. The top three times in each heat advance to the finals on Saturday and the final three fastest times also qualify for the finals - which will be contested at 2:09 p.m. Eastern time. Dahl holds the fourth fastest time in her heat and sits behind Stanford's Lauren Centrowitz (4:10.42), Lucy VanDalen from Stony Brook (4:13.72), and Washington's Christine Babcock  (4:16.50).

"Heidi has been training very well over the last couple of weeks and the goal is to advance into Saturday's final," said associate head coach Michelle Byrne. "Since Heidi is running in the first heat, we are going to have to treat this race as the final, as we won't know how the other two heats are going to run."   

Fans wishing to view the NCAA Championships can follow all the action online for free by visiting http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=ncaa&media=129516 or by clicking the link above. In addition, should Dahl advance to Saturday's final, a live telecast of the championship will air on CBS.

For more information on Dahl and the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, visit www.ETSUBucs.com or http://www.ncaa.com.