EUGENE, Ore. – Graduate student Emily Mackay won her 1,500 preliminary heat at the NCAA Track & Field Championships on Thursday afternoon at Hayward Field. In the process, she advanced to the finals, which will be held on Saturday at 5:41 p.m. EST and air live on ESPN.

Racing in the first of two 12-runner heats, Mackay clocked a time of 4:21.44. She finished .09 seconds ahead of Christina Aragon of Stanford. The top five runners in each of the two heats plus the next two fastest times advanced to Saturday's finals.

The second of the two heats was significantly faster and was won by Sintayehu Vissa of Ole Miss. Her winning time was 4:13.13.

Mackay is making her second straight appearance in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, having placed seventh overall in the 5,000 last year. She is also making her fifth overall appearance at a NCAA Meet, having competed in the past two cross country championships as well as the indoor track & field meet back in March.

For Mackay, the victory was all the more meaningful since she missed out on making the finals in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. She has now advanced out of three straight 1,500 heats since the start of the NCAA East Region Meet two weeks ago - having placed among the top three runners each time.

"I am beyond excited to make it to the finals, especially after missing out on the finals during the indoor meet," she said. "I focused a lot on learnin as much as possible about tactical racing  this outdoor season and it has definitely been paying off. The experience with two tactical races at Regionals helped prepare me for today. I am extremely grateful to have one more race as a Bearcat and as always, it is an honor to represent Binghamton on the national stage."

This marks the third time that a Binghamton distance runner has won their preliminary heat at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Erik van Ingen was first in his 1,500 heat in 2012 while Jesse Garn won his 800 heat in 2015. Both of them were Top-8 finishers in the ensuing finals.

Before Mackay's race on Saturday, however, fellow graduate student Dan Schaffer will race in the men's 5,000 on Friday at 10:55 p.m. EST. It will mark his first career appearance at a NCAA Championship meet and will air live on ESPN2.