NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD PAGE

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Augsburg College's Lauren Rice (SR, Minnetonka, Minn./Holy Family Catholic HS), who was named the winner of the NCAA Elite 89 Award for NCAA Division III women's indoor track and field on Thursday, competed in the 5,000-meter run on Friday in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Bob Devaney Center. 

Rice, competing in her first track and field national championships, saved her best performance of the year for last as she set a school record, while finishing in eighth place, and earning All-American honors with a time of 17:07.98. She came into the championships with a track-adjusted time of 17:12.02, which ranked her 11th among the 17 entries in the field. Rice's school record time was also a personal best, and completes a decorated indoor track and field career. She won the women's 5,000-meter run at the MIAC Indoor Championships in a school-record 17:19.92 time, while finishing second in the women's 3,000-meter run in a school-record 9:59.28 time. The track-adjusted time of 9:54.19 fell just short of the top 17 runners that qualified for the national meet. 

Last season, Rice earned two All-MIAC honorable-mention honors in track and field, finishing fourth in the outdoor 10,000-meter run and sixth in the outdoor 5,000-meter run. She also holds Augsburg's school record in the outdoor 5,000-meter run (17:51.31). In cross country in 2012, Rice finished eighth in the MIAC Championships and 23rd at the NCAA Division III Central Regional.

Rice is the 63rd Augsburg entry in women's track and field national championships competition in school history (58 NCAA Division III, 5 NAIA), and the first for interim head coach Jarred Sampson at Augsburg.

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(NOTE: This story includes information taken from other Augsburg news releases on Lauren Rice.)