The Amherst women’s track and field team sent five runners to the Tufts University Last Chance National Qualifier meet Saturday afternoon at the Gantcher Center.

Last week, two Amherst runners impressed, and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the DIII National Championships: Danielle Griffin ’18 and Leonie Rauls ’18.

These two runners finished in the top two spots in the 800-meter race at the Maine State Open, held on Feb. 24, and looked to lock down spots in the championship.

At the Last Chance Qualifier, Griffin and Rauls did not disappoint, turning in another impressive set of performances that saw them finish in second and third place in the 800-meter race, respectively.

Griffin finished the race in 2:16.00, while Rauls crossed the line less than a second later with a time of 2:16.81.

These times were good enough to propel both runners into Nationals, as both times met the qualifying standards for the DIII Indoor National Championships. Of the 17 runners who qualified for the 800-meter race, Griffin ranks 11th in the nation, while Rauls sits at 16th.

Looking to join Griffin and Rauls at Nationals were Ella Rossa ’21, competing in the 60-meter hurdles, and Katie Siegel ’20 and Becki Golia ’18, competing in the high jump.

Siegel, who notched a victory at the Gordon Kelly Invitational on Feb. 10, recorded another first-place finish at this event, jumping 1.57 meters.

Meanwhile, Golia finished tied for second in the event with a jump of 1.57 meters.

Rossa ran an impressive time in her preliminary heat and qualified for the finals. However, Rossa recorded a DNF in the finals heat after clipping the first hurdle and, as such, did not register a time.

Despite the impressive performances on the track and in the field events, only Griffin and Rauls booked their tickets to the DIII Indoor National Championships, to be held this Friday and Saturday at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama.