Paupore Advances to NCAA Championship in Steeplechase

Saturday, May 31

Jacksonville, Fl.

3000S: 5:40 pm / 5000m: 8 p.m.

Central Michigan University

NCAA East Region Preliminaries

Photo by: Reily Rogers - @reilyrogersphoto

5/31/2025 10:07:00 PM | Track & Field

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One of the most decorated in CMU Track & Field history gets a shot at the national stage June 12 in Eugene, Ore.

By: Harrison LaLone

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Central Michigan Track & Field's Emily Paupore bested her own school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Saturday night (9:53.89) at the NCAA I East Preliminaries, finished seventh in the event to punch her ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June.

Paupore's previous season-high ranked 16^th in NCAA I this season, sixth among the preliminary field at North Florida, and only needed to be one of the top 12 in Saturday's competition.

"Coming in almost expecting to make it out is a whole new kind of pressure to deal with," Head Coach Jenny Swieton said. "I was impressed with how she handled that. She ran very composed, just as she had been all year."

Paupore will compete in the national semifinal at Oregon's esteemed Hayward Field on June 12, 7:30 p.m. ET. Her entry breaks a brief drought for the program.

"She's our first to make it out there for us since 2021. Eugene is a special place and we're excited to see her just go out there and go for it."

Natalie Newcombe took on an eager field in the 5,000-meter event Saturday night, logged a 39^th-place finished and a time of 16:19.99.

"The 5K started off at about a 15:25 pace and she just went as hard as she possibly could for it. There was a group that chose not to do that and ended up just running slow, but this is not the place to have that approach."

More importantly, the Chippewa duo had each other for the week in Florida and could toast to a five-year run in the CMU program.

"They probably liked getting to have someone to hang out with other than just me," Swieton chuckled. "I think the biggest thing about this week for these two was getting to do it together."

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