MYRTLE BEACH, SC - The Johns Hopkins women's track team produced its first All-American of the week and pushed another entry into a championship final to highlight the Blue Jays' efforts on day two of the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Outdoor Track Championships on Friday.

Graduate student Sara Stepheson became the first Blue Jay to earn All-America honors at this year's NCAA Championships as she placed eighth in the Steeplechase with a time of 10:39.60.  The top eight finishers in each event earn All-America honors and Stephenson used a strong final lap to earn her spot on the podium.

Stephenson hovered between 10th and 11th place through the first 1,400 meters of the 3,000-meter race before she moved to ninth after 1,800, although she was more than four seconds off the eighth-place pace at that point.  She held in the nine spot for three laps, all of which she covered in just over 87 seconds, before a final-lap kick saw her chase down Wellesley's Ella Whinney, who had maintained the number eight spot for four full laps.  Stephenson covered the final lap in 78.17 seconds to edge eventual ninth-place finisher Ellie Meyer of Wartburg by less than one-tenth of a second (.08).

Junior Lauren Phillips grabbed a spot in Saturday's 400-meter finals as she crossed first in the second of three qualifying heats with a time of 55.43.  Her time was the fourth-best qualifying time of the day.

Rounding out Hopkins' day two competitors was junior Annie Huang, who placed 13th in the 800-meter run after crossing the line in 2:12.41.