Grayce Selig '11, Brandeis' lone competitor at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track Championships last weekend, finished second in the 1-mile run, the best finish by a Brandeis women's competitor at the event since 2006. Selig narrowly missed winning the mile, as she finished only 1.01 seconds behind Randelle Boots '13 of Wellesley College. Selig settled for second and another All-American accolade, finishing in 4 minutes, 58.47 seconds.
Amy Knoblock '11, from Keene State College, was third, 0.32 seconds behind Selig.
Selig said that the race was tight for most of the run.
"The first three-fourths of the race, everyone was all bunched up and close together," she said. "Everyone was trying to get their spot. With two laps to go everyone was still together and I was on the inside as planned. I was sitting in fourth or fifth for most of the race, but somehow the inside lane opened up with one lap to go and the field finally began to separate. I passed the girl in second on the home stretch on the final lap."
Saturday was the third time that Selig garnered All-American honors in her career-she was an All-American twice last year. At the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Championships, she placed fourth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:28.72. At the 2010 Indoor Championships, she was the anchor of a team that finished third in the distance medley relay. The last Brandeis woman to finish that well at the meet was Anat Benoun '09, who finished second in the triple jump in 2006.
The meet was held at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.
The track team's next race will be the first of the outdoor season, on April 1 at the Princeton Sam Howell Distance Night in Ewing, NJ.