Sophomore distance runner Erin St. John rode a 13-second cut off her lifetime best in the 3,000-meter run at Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships to make it to the NCAA meet last weekend, where she placed 17th.

St. John, the lone Lady Lion going to NCAAs, was ranked fourth going into her event. Coach Teri Jordan said the drop in rank was understandable since St. John's training aimed for peak times to happen at Big Ten Championships, held Feb. 24-25. The time between meets caused St. John's NCAA race to be "flat," Jordan said.

Jordan also stressed that very few sophomores even achieve national qualification, so the experience will be to St. John's advantage in the future.

St. John was also recognized for her academic performance this weekend. Her national qualifying performance in addition to a 3.78 grade point average earned her Academic All-America status.

At the ECAC Championships March 4-5, Penn State placed 10th out of 52 teams. Captain Sue Huelster barely missed national qualification in the 800 meters, placing fourth overall.

Kris Kelly picked up some points for the team with a tough double run of the both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter races.

The Lady Lions' performance followed a 10th-place finish at Big Ten Championships the week before.