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Katie Fankhouser
Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications
Junior Katie Fankhouser earned national runner-up honors in the 1500m at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field National Championships

National Runner-Up! Fankhouser earns First-Team All-American honors in 1500m at NCAA DII Championships

5/27/2023 7:37:00 PM

By: Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications
PUEBLO, Colo. – Junior Katie Fankhouser wrapped up her historic junior campaign as the national runner-up in the women's 1500m at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, earning First Team All-American honors at her first track championship.

"I am feeling so blessed. I didn't think that I was going to make it through the year after battling injuries since February," said an emotional Fankhouser. "I'm so excited to come back next year for cross country and hopefully close it out with a national title next spring."
 
Fankhouser was among the top-three for the entire 1500m race before pulling away for runner-up honors

Fankhouser claimed her second First-Team All-American honor of the 2022-23 academic year after earning nods in cross country in Seattle last December.

"Katie ran a beautiful prelim on Thursday, so I knew she was going to do something special today," acknowledged head coach Shawn Jakubowski. "We spoke strategy and had a plan going in. She was confident and prepared for however the race would unfold. She ran her heart out today, and I couldn't be more proud."

In Saturday's 1500m final, the athletes were battling in windy conditions for the 5:35 pm. start. Fankhouser entered nationals seeded ninth overall but toed the starting line with confidence to battle for a top spot. The game plan held strong through the opening turn as the junior sat in second place, narrowly behind Minnesota Duluth's Cailee Peterson—the top performer in heat two on Friday.

She dropped one place at the 700m mark with a split of 1:23.24, but the margin was narrow as the race's leaders were bunched up in the early goings. Fankhouser reclaimed the second-place spot heading into the final lap, trailing Westminster's Courtney McAlindon as the final 400m approached.

The pace picked up among those sitting in podium contention, and Fankhouser was right in the middle of the action as the group made the turn into the home stretch. Lee's Celine Ritter turned in an incredible kick to pull ahead, but Fankhouser was hot on her heels to maintain a second-place finish. She clocked a time of 1:03.78 in the final 400m to outlast Leah Taylor of Western Colorado who crossed the line in third.

"I knew that when we got out at 2:40 in the first 800 that the second half was going to be the real race," explained Fankhouser. "I was just sitting and waiting for somebody to make a move. When they did, I tried to take off with them and give it everything I had."
 
Fankhouser her coaches stopped for a photo following the runner-up finish at the ThunderBowl

"Katie couldn't be more of a pleasure to coach. After walking to the staging area before the prelims, she looked at me and said 'Coach, I got this...relax," and I knew we were in for a great weekend," said assistant coach Will Schenk. "The prelims went as planned, and in the finals she ran her heart out. I am incredibly proud to be her coach."

Fankhouser will look ahead to her upcoming wedding before using the summer to recover and prepare for cross country and the program's first-ever indoor track season.

Final Comments from Coach Jakubowski

Katie had an incredible year and will go into next season as one of the top returning runners in NCAA DII. She was an All-American in cross country, the conference champion in the 1500m, and took home national runner-up honors. Watch out for Katie next year because she is just getting started.

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