Fifth-year senior Amanda Eccleston won the Big Ten indoor mile title in her first year on the Michigan women’s track and field team. She then won the Big Ten outdoor 1,500-meter run. So it should come as no surprise that in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds this past weekend in Greensboro, N.C., Eccleston won her heat in the 1,500-meter run, setting a new personal-best time of 4:17.75 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Eccleston was one of four Wolverines to advance to the NCAA championships, in what will be her final meet of the season.

Eccleston’s record time was even more impressive given the initial sluggish pace of the heat, which ran markedly slower in the first 400 meters than the second heat. Maintaining her position in the middle of the pack for the balance of the race, Eccleston turned it on in the final two laps to win the heat going away.

“I’m very excited to have the opportunity to run [at Nationals], and I’m definitely hoping to make the final and go for an All-American spot,” Eccleston said. “I don’t really know what to expect for Division I nationals yet, but I think the way that I’ve been racing, I have a really good shot at making finals and placing really high in the nation.”

Eccleston knows a thing or two about competing on the national stage, though. She spent the first four years of her collegiate career at Division II Hillsdale College, where she was the Division II national champion in the mile run in 2012. One year later, she returns to the national championships, this time at the highest level of collegiate competition.

“The competition at Division I is so much tougher, it’s a little hard to compare, but I think doing so well last year gives me confidence that I can at least get in a race and be very competitive and go for that top place,” Eccleston said. “I don’t really know exactly how it’s going to play out, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Eccleston wasn’t the only Michigan athlete to thrive in the 1,500-meter run. Fellow senior Rebecca Addison also qualified for nationals in a personal-best time of 4:15.81, flying under the radar to win her heat with the top overall time.

“I was really excited, because I knew to make it I would probably have to run a PR (personal record), so with it being a little faster it helped to have so much pushing in some sense,” Addison said. “I’m really excited to finally make it to nationals, it’s been a goal of mine the whole year and I’ve never made it to nationals before.”

Eccleston and Addison’s dueling first-place finishes in the two heats continued a trend of dominance this season for the pair in the 1,500-meter run. The pair came off first and third place finishes in their last meet, the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, where they were key catalysts for Michigan’s overall fourth place finish.

“That was so exciting to have Michigan athletes win both heats, it shows a lot about how hard we work and especially how well we are at finishing races strong,” Eccleston said. “I’m really excited that we both made it, to be able to train together the next couple weeks and run together, so I think that made it more special.”

Eccleston and Addison were the only Wolverines competing in track events to qualify, but they will be joined by a pair of Michigan field athletes who impressed as well.

On the first day of competition Thursday, senior Erin Pendleton qualified in the discus throw with a season-best toss of 53.13 meters, good for third overall. Then, on Friday, redshirt junior Kiley Tobel qualified in the pole vault, clearing 4.10 meters to finish in the top group of athletes.

The four Michigan athletes will have a week and a half to train and prep for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which begin June 5 in Eugene, Ore.