ALLENDALE, Mich. – Leah Seivert earned her third All-American honor of her freshman campaign with a fourth place finish in the women's 10,000-meter run to kick off the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for Augustana on Thursday.
 
Seivert clocked a 34:52.44 in her 10k as she paced herself to make a late push and earn her third All-America honors. The Sibley, Iowa native was also the top underclassman to finish the race as a true freshman. Teammate Meritxell Delgado came in 17th with a time of 36:11.00.

In the men's steeplechase, Adam Braun took sixth in the first heat with a time of 9:11.29 only to miss the cut off to the finals with a 13th-place finish. Harald Karbo logged a time of 9:25.30 in heat one to finish 16th overall.

In a stacked field, Kayla Mescher clocked a 1:02.00 in the 400-meter hurdles to finish sixth in her heat. The top nine runners advanced to the final, but Mescher came up just short to advance to the finals placing 15th overall. Mescher will also run in the women's 4x400-meter relay in tomorrow night's preliminaries.

"We had a decent start to the NCAA national championships on day one," head coach Tracy Hellman said. "Leading the way was the impressive finish of Seivert in the 10k. For her to finish in the top-five as a true freshman is an impressive accomplishment."

The women's 4x400-meter relay squad will open the second day of the championships with a start time of 6:50 p.m. (CT).