In just her freshman year, Ruth White is already one of the top 10,000 meter runners in the entire country.
White earned a spot at the NCAA Division I outdoor track and field national championships by finishing sixth in the women’s 10K Thursday night as part of the East Regional competition in Jacksonville, Florida.
The remarkable freshman season at the University of New Hampshire for White, an Orono native, will continue next month at nationals in Eugene, Oregon.
The top 12 runners from the East will be joined by the top 12 West finishers for the national competition that will be held June 11-14.
White finished Thursday night with a time of 32:50.17 and set a new UNH record in the 10K for the third time this season. She improved on her previous school record by roughly seven seconds.
Ahead of the regionals, White seemed unfazed when asked about the Florida heat and late start time for Thursday night’s race.
“No matter what time of day it is or what the weather is, we’re all out there, same race, same time,” she told the Bangor Daily News last week. “And I’ll just give my all with the girls that are out there.”
White did that from the get-go Thursday, jumping out as one of the top three leaders to start the 25-lap race. She even led the entire pack briefly about 12 minutes in, before winner Grace Hartman of NC State eventually took over on her way to a 32:32.80 course record. White was the fastest freshman in the race, and all 10 top finishers beat the previous course record of 33:06.83
White was excited to run in the regionals, and she delivered an exciting result.
“I just like the feeling of pushing myself as hard as I can go, and right now it’s about representing UNH well, so that’s definitely a big motivating factor,” White said last week.
She certainly achieved that Thursday night, and will now take her motivation and competitive drive to Oregon as one of the fastest collegiate 10K runners in the entire country.
