BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Furman sophomore Carson Williams punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships Friday with a fourth-place finish in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships East Preliminaries, which are being hosted by Indiana University this week at Haugh Track & Field in Bloomington, Ind.

A native of Raleigh, N.C., Williams posted a time of 3:38.36 to take second in his heat and fourth overall, advancing automatically to the semifinals, which will be held on Wednesday, June 9, at 8:02 p.m. ET in Eugene, Oregon.  The finals of the events are slated for Friday, June 10, at 9:24 p.m. ET.

Williams, who was competing in the event at the preliminaries for the second-consecutive year, entered the meet ranked eighth in the East after recording a personal-best time of 8:37.65 at the Lee University Last Chance meet.

The meet will conclude on Saturday.  Furman sophomore Megan Marvin will compete in the quarterfinals of the 1,500m at 5:15 p.m. and sophomores Bethany Graham and Madelynne Cadeau will run in the 5,000m at 8:10 p.m. 

Marvin finished fifth in her heat of the 1,500m Thursday to advance automatically to Saturday's quarterfinals.  She posted a time of 4:16.53 to place 16th overall.  Marvin is making her second-consecutive appearance in the East Preliminaries after running in the 800m at last year's preliminaries.  The reigning SoCon Champion in both the 800m and 1,500m, she entered this week's meet ranked 12th in the 1,500m after posting a personal-best time of 4:14.97 at the Virginia Challenge in April.  

Graham, who hails from Aldie, Va., will compete in the 5,000m for the second-straight year after finishing 14th in the event at last year's preliminaries.  She is ranked 42nd in the event this season with a qualifying with a time of 16:10.76, which she posted at the Lee University Last Chance meet.  Cumming, Ga., native Cadeau, the 2022 SoCon Freshman of the Year, is ranked 48th in the event with a qualifying time of 16:15.48, which she recorded at the Virginia Challenge. 

On Wednesday, sophomore Dylan Schubert finished 32nd in the 10,000m and freshman Matthew Smith notched a 33rd-place finish in the 800m.  Schubert, a native of Loveland, Colo., turned in a time of 30:17.14 in the 10,000m.  He tallied a personal-best time of 28:52.85 in the event earlier this season at the Virginia Challenge to qualify for the East Preliminaries.  A native of Leesburg, Va., Smith posted a time of 1:50.60 in the 800m.  He was voted the SoCon Freshman of the Year after winning the event in meet-record time, erasing a record that had stood for 45 years.  His time of 1:48.37 supplanted the mark of 1:49.20 set by Furman's Phil Barker in 1977. 

The top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Eugene, Oregon, June 8-11.

NCAA East Preliminaries - Furman Schedule/Results

Wednesday, May 25 

Men's 800m 1st round - Matthew Smith - 33rd (1:50.60) 

Men's 10,000m - Dylan Schubert - 32nd (30:17.14)

Thursday, May 26

Women's 1,500m 1st Round – Megan Marvin - 16th (4:16.53)

Friday, May 27

Men's 3,000m Steeplechase Semifinals – Carson Williams - 4th (8:37.73)

Saturday, May 28

Women's 1,500m Quarterfinals – 5:15 p.m. – Megan Marvin 

Women's 5,000m Semifinals – 8:10 p.m. – Bethany Graham & Madelynne Cadeau