COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Aoibhe Richardson continues to etch her name into University of San Francisco track and field history.
 
Richardson qualified for the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships Saturday in the 5,000 meters by placing among the top-12 at the NCAA West Preliminary Meet at Texas A&M University's E.B. Cushing Stadium.
 
Richardson's qualifying run is made even more impressive because just 48 hours earlier, she was taken to the hospital for heat exhaustion after dropping out of the 10,000 meters in the Texas heat.
 
"The amount of grit and determination it took to bounce back 48 hours later from an extremely tough 10k was truly incredible," said San Francisco interim head cross country and track & field head coach Tim Riley. "I know for a fact that the folks from Kilkenny, Ireland, who stayed up to watch Aoibhe's race will have a hard time sleeping tonight."
 

An absolutely remarkable turnaround for @Aoibhe_Rich in the women's 5k as she punches her 🎫 to Eugene for the NCAA Track and Field National Finals 🤯!!! #DonStrong🔰 pic.twitter.com/Ly1LXALboi

— USF Dons XC and T&F (@DonsXCTF) May 30, 2021

Richardson finished 11th to grab one of the top-12 qualifying spots for the national championships. She ran the race in 16 minutes, 2.99 seconds, in what ended up being a slow race compared to the qualifying times. Richardson had qualified for the meet with a time of 15:43.58, a time which ranked 15th entering the meet. The No. 1 qualifier – Whittni Orton of BYU – led all qualifiers with a time of 15:12.91, but the winner of the race (Julia Heymach of Stanford) on Saturday ran 15:55.72 – 43 seconds slower than the top qualifying time.

She adds her name to USF track and field lore after becoming the first-ever female qualifier from USF for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field National Championships in 2020 - a meet she never got the opportunity to run when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Eve Jensen also made moves in her first-ever appearance at an NCAA West Preliminary Meet. She entered the 5,000 ranked No. 42 among the field and finished 34th overall, running a time of 16:48.18.
 
Baneet Bains did the same thing, moving up nine spots from her qualifying spot in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to finish 37th after entering the meet as the 46th-ranked runner. She ran a time of 10:38.49, finishing 13th in her heat.
 
The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships take place on June 9-12, 2021, at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. Fans can find more information and coverage links on USFDons.com.