After missing the NCAA event finals her junior year when she finished No. 14, Tori Gerlach improved by 12 places to redeem herself and automatically qualify for her first NCAA finals on Thursday.
Gerlach took second in her heat of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:50.54 — which is now the No. 2 time in program history and breaks her previous No. 2 time of 9:50.60.
Gerlach was the only Penn State athlete out of five competing on Thursday to advance to the finals.
Danae Rivers, who competed in the 800-meter run, finished 19th-overall in the event with her time of 2:07.