May 25, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo. ---- Samford junior Lauren Blankenship earned a spot in the NCAA National Championships Friday with a second place finish in the 5000-meters at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Columbia, Mo. The two-day event is hosted by the University of Missouri.

Blankenship took second place in the event with a time of 16:17.77, just a little over a second shy of a new personal and school record. The Alpharetta, Ga., native will compete in the 1500-meter finals on Saturday.

The NCAA National Championships will be held June 6-9 in Sacramento, hosted by the State University of California - Sacramento and the Sacramento Sports Commission.