Complete 800-meter results (PDF)
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ALLENDALE, Mich. – No more one-and-done for Lynelle Decker.
 
This time, it's one down – and one more big race to go for the Seattle Pacific junior.
 
Decker qualified for her first NCAA Division II track and field finals on Friday afternoon. She was third in her preliminary heat of the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 9.36 seconds, to grab one of the three wild-card spots for the title race at Grand Valley State Track & Field Stadium.
 
She will be one of nine competitors stepping to the starting line on the bright, blue oval at 12:45 p.m. Pacific on Saturday.
 
"It's kind of unreal. I'm sure it won't hit me until tomorrow about an hour before the race when I'm warming up," Decker said. "I was very nervous. My nerves were heightened this year because I was placed in the top eight (coming into the meet).
 
"Hopefully, I'll be more relaxed because I'm approaching it with the mindset that anything can happen.
 
Decker (Vancouver, Wash. / Mountain View HS) came into Friday's race as the No. 7 seed in the event with the 2:08.13 that she ran on April 17 at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa, Calif.

 

Competing in the third of the three heats, she needed either to be in the top two of that race, or have one of the three fastest times outside of the top two from all three preliminaries. The 2:09.36, in breezy conditions with temperatures in the upper 60s, was the second-fastest of those three times, making her the No. 8 seed for the finals.
 
Decker, who hung back early, then began making a move toward the end of the first lap that eventually got her up as far as second, initially thought she had fallen short.
 
"I saw my time and I thought, 'That wasn't fast enough.' I was pretty bummed," she said. "Then as I was walking across, Chris (SPU assistant coach Reed) caught my eye and said, 'You made it.' "
 
Decker's heat was won by Simon Fraser senior Lindsey Butterworth in 2:06.87. Taylor Stepanski of Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) surged to second place in the final 200 meters, finishing in 2:08.91 for the other automatic qualifying spot out, with Decker next across the line.
 
Butterworth has been the national leader all season, and came in with a 2:04.11. On Friday, she ran fast enough to win the heat, and although Heat 1 winner Carsyn Koch of Cedarville (Ohio) had a slightly faster prelim time (2:06.85), Butterworth still will be the clear favorite in the finals.
 
Of Saturday's nine runners, those finishing in the top eight will earn All-American recognition.
 
This is Decker's sixth NCAA meet in track and her eighth overall in nine competitive seasons as a Falcon. She has run at the indoor and outdoor nationals all three years, and also has been in two cross country nationals.

But never before has she made it to a track title race. The closest she came was 11th in the indoor 800 as a sophomore in 2014. She was 14th in last year's outdoor 800 on this same Grand Valley track in 2:10.82. As a freshman in 2013, she ran the 1,500 outdoors, placing 20th in Pueblo, Colo.
 
Decker won't be the only Falcon in action on Saturday. Fellow junior Anna Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS) will compete in the 5,000 meters. That race, a single-heat timed finals featuring 24 runners, goes off at 2:00 p.m. PDT. Patti is the No. 11 seed with her entry time of 16:41.56.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
NCAA Division II Championships
Friday, May 22, 2015
Grand Valley Track & Field Stadium / Allendale, Mich.
 
PRELIMINARIES
800
Heat 1 – 1, Carsyn Cook (Cedarville) 2:06.85.
Heat 2 – 1, Jhevere Hall (Lincoln-Mo.) 2:08.05.
Heat 3 – 1, Lindsey Butterworth (Simon Fraser) 2:06.87. SPU – 3, Lynelle Decker 2:09.36.
 
FINALS QUALIFIERS
(Top 2 from each heat, plus next 3 fastest times)
1, Carsyn Cook (Cedarville) 2:06.85; 2, Lindsey Butterworth (Simon Fraser) 2:06.87; 3 Chante Roberts (Adams State) 2:07.32; 4, Jhevere Hall (Lincoln-Mo.) 2:08.05; 5, Maria Curit (Stonehill) 2:08.22; 6, Kindra Emberton (Missouri Southern) 2:08.71; 7, Taylor Stepanski (Saginaw Valley) 2:08.91; 8, Lynelle Decker (SPU) 2:09.36; 9, Jaylen Rodgers (Angelo State) 2:09.56.