ALLENDALE, Mich. – Dania Holmberg's last time in a Seattle Pacific uniform was her fastest time in a Seattle Pacific uniform.
 
The Falcon senior raced to a personal-best mark of 4 minutes, 25.74 seconds on Saturday afternoon, giving her ninth place in the finals of the 1,500 meters at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships.
 
Holmberg's time bettered the 4:27.31 that she posted in winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title two weeks ago. It also was nearly four seconds faster than her 4:29.42 from Thursday's NCAA preliminaries inside Grand Valley State Track & Field Stadium.
 

"It was a fun race," said Holmberg, who earned second-team All-American status. "I think my goal for this race was to race it like myself. I didn't really get to do that in the prelims because there were just so many variables that I had to take account of. So I was just trying to race my race and thinking about how I go about racing – and I did that. That's why I was as successful as I was."
 
The top-10 national finish was the first of Holmberg's career. She was 18^th in both the 1500 and the 5000 meters two years ago in Kingsville, Texas. She was 21^st in 2019 at the NCAA cross country nationals.
 
"She ran a great race. She did everything within her power to give herself the best chance to place as high as she could," SPU associate head coach / distance coach Chris Reed said. "It was really an excellent end to her career as a Falcon.
 
"As a coach, you work with somebody their entire career, and you can only hope that their last race in uniform will be as complete and as proficient as that one was," Reed added.
 
SAVING HER BEST FOR LAST –  LAST TWO LAPS, THAT IS
As was the case in Thursday's prelims, the final went out at a blistering pace. Holmberg came through the 300-meter mark (three laps to go) in 52.59, which was two seconds faster than Thursday's 54.60. Her 700-meter split was 2:02.23 (2:06.23 on Thursday), and she began the bell lap at 3:14.53 (3:14.72 on Thursday).
 
But this time, Holmberg had a strong finish around those last 400 meters. Thursday's final lap took her 74.7 seconds; she needed just 71.21 seconds on Saturday.
 
Holmberg had been last among the 12 runners at the 300- and 700-meter marks, moved up two spots to 10^th by 1,100, then gained another place by the finish.

 

"She made numerous good decisions throughout the race," Reed said. "She put herself in a position early in the race that was best for her, and she knew when it was time to make a move – and she made the move at the right time and passed as many people as she could."
 
"I think it helped not working so hard at the beginning like I did in the prelims," Holmberg said. "I just tried to be in contact, but I really relaxed the first 800. Then the last 700, the last 600, I really cut down like I've been practicing and surged every 200 meters, and that helped a lot."
 
Although Holmberg wasn't able to snag one of the top-8 awards podium places, she still found significant satisfaction in her performance.
 
"I was going with the intent that I sure wish I could have gotten podium. But I don't think I could have raced it any better than I did," she said. "So I'm really happy with that."
 
Although Holmberg's Seattle Pacific career has concluded, more racing is still ahead for her. She will be heading to the University of Oregon to begin a master's program in psychology. Because the covid pandemic led to the cancelation of outdoor track and cross country in 2020 and indoor track in 2021, she has eligibility remaining in all three seasons and is planning to join the Ducks.
 
"It's going to be exciting to see what I can accomplish there, as well," Holmberg said. "The reason that set me up so well for Oregon is because of SPU, so I'm really grateful for that."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, May 29, 2021
Grand Valley State T&F Stadium / Allendale, Mich.
 
 
SPU EVENTS
1500 – 1, Stephanie Cotter (Adams State) 4:14.96. SPU – 9, Dania Holmberg 4:25.74.