PUEBLO, Colo. – Maya Ewing spent her entire junior year moving up through the pack. Cross country. Indoor track. And now, outdoor track.
 
No surprise, then, that the Seattle Pacific junior did it again this week at the NCAA Division II Championships.
 
Ewing came into the 3000-meter steeplechase seeded No. 12. In Thursday's preliminaries, she moved up to No. 11 and qualified for the finals.
 
On Friday, she climbed another two spots, once again using a big closing kick to finish ninth inside the Colorado State Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
Ewing stopped the watch in 10 minutes, 48.53 seconds. That was a 5½-second drop from her prelim time of 10:54.05.
 
 

The No. 9 finish earned her second-team All-American status. It is the first All-American award of her career. (The Nos. 1-8 finishers make first team; Nos. 9-12 are second team.)

"I started with the pack and then I fell off the pack, but then I was able to kick it at the end," Ewing said. "It was pretty tough, but I'm happy with the results.
 
"The middle part has always been tough for me," she added. "But once I see a couple girls (just ahead of me) and I know I'm almost done, it always becomes easy to chase – and I'm always happy to finish.".
 
In a race where big favorite Ava O'Connor of Adams State essentially put herself out of reach by the 600-meter mark and kept stretching her lead from there, Ewing found herself locked into 11th among the 12 competitors. That's where she still was with 800 meter left, about three seconds behind her pace from the prelims (8 minutes, 6.07 seconds on Friday; 8:03.46 on Thursday).
 
Ewing made her move on the next lap, splitting an 84 to move up to ninth with 400 meters to go. Then she split just under 78 seconds to secure her ninth-place position.
 
Assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen was pleased with the way Ewing kept her focus and took advantage when an opportunity to move up presented itself.
 
 

"She was hurting early on, and the middle was definitely a grind," he said. "But with about two laps to go, there was a fall in front of her and that kind of woke her up. She realized she could start catching people, she caught one, and that gave her momentum.
 
"Coming into the final without a rest day in between, you never know what to expect," Hansen added. "And at national championships, crazy stuff always happens. Making the final was a big deal for her, and she put herself in it."
 
Ewing capped a season that started with a top-5 finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country meet last October, a GNAC indoor 5000-meter championship in February, and now her first trip to nationals and first All-American in May.
 
"Her trajectory is pretty unprecedented," Hansen said. "We were obviously striving for improvement. But the rate of her improvement this year has really been incredible. It's a testament to the work she has put in and the improvement she has been able to have."
 
O'Connor won in 10:11.16. She was nine-plus seconds ahead of Adams State teammate and runner-up Emily Schoelkopf at the finish.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Division II Championships
Friday, May 23, 2025
CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl / Pueblo, Colorado
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ava O'Connor (Adams State) 10:11.16.  SPU – 9, Maya Ewing 10:48.53.
 
 
 
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