San Diego, Calif. - Lucy Van Dalen '12 added another accomplishment to her extraordinary legacy as she qualified for the London Olympics with a 4:05.76 in the 1,500 at the Summer Nights Track & Field Series at San Diego's Mesa College on Wednesday.
Van Dalen, a native on Wanganui, New Zealand, ran well inside the the country's Olympic qualifying mark of 4:07.00.
"I'm absolutely stoked, I couldn't be happier really. It was an amazing race to be in, there were six of us girls who were going for a fast time. I couldn't have been in a better race really, I feel blessed to have got the 'A' standard, it's really exciting," Van Dalen told FoxSports in New Zealand.
Her time was within a second of the New Zealand record and is the 28th fastest in the world in 2012.
Van Dalen, whose top time was a school-record 4:11.59, needed to get within the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) 'A' standard of 4:06.00. Because fellow countrywoman Nikki Hamblin was injured and is unable to run, Van Dalen only needed to run under the 4:07.00 standard to be nominated by Athletics New Zealand for London.
Most recently, she shaved three-and-a-half seconds, running in New Jersey last week.
Her time ranks behind Hamblin's 4:04.82 as No. 2 on New Zealand's all-time list.
Van Dalen had planned to qualify in the 5,000 in France later this summer, but likely will receive an invitation to compete in the 1,500.
Qualification for the 1,500 runs until July 8. The Olympics begin on July 28
