Boston College Athletics
Westphal Qualifies for NCAA Indoors
March 05, 2015 | Women's Track & Field
Chestnut Hill, MA--As if Liv Westphal has not impressed us enough this season, the junior from Limoges, France has qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Westphal will run in the 5000 meters, where she is currently the number three qualifier in the nation, trailing only Emily Sisson of Providence and Sarah Disanza of Wisconsin.
Liv currently runs both track and cross-country at BC and is equally impressive in each sport. This year, Westphal won the ACC Championship in Cross Country and was named the ACC Cross Country Athlete of the Year. However, her most prominent honor came when she was named an All-American in cross-country.
During this track season, Liv failed to disappoint. Just last week, she entered the ACC Indoor Championships as the second fastest qualifier in the 3000 meters and the fastest qualifier in the 5000 meters, where she held first place by nearly 23 seconds over the second place qualifying time. Westphal chose to run the 3000 meters at ACC Indoors and finished fifth in the event.
Westphal anchored the DMR for Boston College at the ACC's, helping them earn a fourth place finish in the DMR event. She currently holds the school record in both the 3000 and 5000 meter indoor.
Just this past year, Liv set the French Junior National record in the 3000 meters, unseating her previous fastest time, which she ran last season. Also, Westphal's current 5000 meter time, which has qualified her for the NCAA's, broke the French National record, making her the fastest Frenchwoman to ever run the 5000 meters.
In order to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, there is no qualifying standard. Instead, a runner must simply be one of the fastest sixteen in the nation in their event, which makes Liv's achievement all the more impressive. To put this in perspective, Westphal's third overall qualifying time, 15:31.62, ranks as the ninth fastest time in NCAA history.
The NCAA Indoor Championships will be held on March 13th and 14th in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The championships will be available to stream online via ESPN3 at 7 pm. There will also be a delayed airing on March 23rd at 7 pm on ESPNU. We will be sure to announce the time of the women's 5000 meter even via the BC Athletics social media accounts when they become available.
For a full list of NCAA Indoor Qualifiers, visit: http://rtspt.com/ncaa/d1indoor15/women_declared.htm
