Hilary Coady

With a personal-best performance in the 400-meter hurdles on Monday evening, sophomore Hilary Coady has greatly improved her chances of qualifying for the event at the upcoming NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Entering today's Ron Althoff Invitational at Delaware, Ohio, Coady ranked 28th in the nation in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:03.56, which she recorded while winning an individual championship at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships last weekend.

Tonight, she improved that time by nearly a full second, as she crossed the finish line in second-place in 1:02.59. That time would have been good for 18th best in the nation at the start of the day, but with several "last chance" meets going on throughout NCAA Div. III, Coady will have to wait to see if her time will stick among the top-22 that receive invitations.

Coady also appears to have a strong chance of qualifying for the heptathlon as well, with her score of 4,451 points from the NCAC Championships sitting at 17th-best among multi-event competitors at the moment.