ALL-AMERICAN: LHU’s Moyer smashes school record on way to fourth-place finish at NCAA Championships
ALLENDALE, Mich. – Laurel Moyer (Lock Haven, Pa./Central Mountain) of the Lock Haven University women’s outdoor track & field team made a huge move over the final two laps and picked her way through the field as she turned in a historic effort Friday night in the 3,000-meter steeplechase finals at 2021 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
Moyer’s strong finish helped her smash her own school record and finish fourth overall in the championship race.
The fourth-place finish gives Moyer All-American honors for the first time in her career. Her blistering time of 10:27.32 helped her better her own school record in the event, which she had previously set on May 15.
She became the first woman in LHU history to All-American in the steeplechase as it stands as the highest individual NCAA finish in the event for the LHU women’s track & field program. Moyer was fourth out of 14 runners on the national stage.
For Moyer, this edition of the NCAA championships marked her official debut on the track at a national-championship meet.
The NCAA championship-meet opened Thursday and Moyer competed in the 10,000-meter final. She finished 15th overall with a time of 35:29.56.
Prior to the Friday evening 3,000-meter steeplechase final, Moyer had only run three steeplechase events.
In her most recent steeplechase outing on May 15, Moyer ran a personal-best 10:39.2. It was just the third steeplechase race of her career and all four of her career steeplechase events have come this month.
Back on May 1, she made her long-awaited career debut in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and she ran to a school record at the LHU Qualifier. She finished her first ever steeplechase event in 10:49.50, which broke the school record by 22 seconds and broke the meet record by 20 seconds. Less than a week later, she claimed the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) individual title in the event, besting her school record by over nine seconds. Competing in the event for the third time in less than three weeks, Moyer ran 10:39.21 vs. an elite field at the Toledo Rocket Last Chance Qualifier on May 15, which helped her improve on her school record.
Moyer entered Thursday night’s 10,000-meter race as the No. 14 seed (35:01.81). She ran her seed-time, which was also her career-best and a school-record, back on April 23, while competing among an elite field at the 54th annual GINA Relays, hosted by Hillsdale College.
Moyer’s two-day run at the Division II track & field’s biggest stage put an exclamation point on an all-around brilliant 2021 campaign.
One highlight among many this spring was Moyer’s performance at the 2021 PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
At the 2021 PSAC championships, held May 6-8, Moyer turned in a remarkable three-day “triple.” She won the 10K and steeplechase, before closing the meet with a second-place finish in the 5,000-meter run. On Day 1 (Thurs, May 6) at the PSAC championships, she cruised to a win in the 10,000-meter run. On Day 2 (Fri, May 8), she again ran away from the field and cruised to the victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Moyer rounded out a brilliant three days with a second-place showing at 5,000-meters on the final day of competition. In all, she scored 28 points – outscoring three full teams – at the 2021 championship. In all, Moyer has won seven individual career PSAC gold medals.
Moyer’s career history in the 3,000-meter steeplechase by date – –
May 1, 2021 || 10:49.74 (career debut, *school record)
May 7, 2021 || 10:40.35 (PSAC champion, **school record)
May 15, 2021 || 10:39.21 (***school record)
May 28, 2021 || NCAA Championship Final || 10:27.32 (****school record) || Fourth, All-American
