Women's Track & Field 5/16/2017 4:51:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Donahue Earns Third National Championship Invitation Of Career

AMHERST, N.Y. - Daemen College track and field standout Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) has earned an invitation to compete in the 10,000-meter run at the 2017 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championship meet which will be held May 25-27 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Donahue, a senior long distance runner, earned the invitation based on her best time in the event this season which came at the Brockport Invitational on April 14. There, Donahue won the race with a school-record time of 35:35.11 which at the time ranked first in the country for all female Division II runners competing at the 10,000-meter distance this season. The time she posted surpassed the provisional qualifying time (36:56.20) needed for a national championship invitation.

Donahue, who earlier today was named an All-Region honoree by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, went on to win the 10,000-meter race at the East Coast Conference Championship meet on April 22. There, she posted an ECC meet record time of 38:31.11.

Donahue will enter the 10,000-meter national championship race as the No. 15 seed, again based upon her top time this season. She is the only qualifier from the East Region among the 21-entrant field. Kendra Foley, a senior from Grand Valley State University (Mich.), enters as the top seed with a top time of 34:16.01.

This marks the third national championship invitation in Donahue's career. Earlier this year, she became the first Daemen track and field athlete to compete in a national championship event after qualifying for 5,000-meter run at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship meet held March 9-11 in Birmingham, Alabama. She posted a 13th-place finish in the event with a time of 17:15.30. In 2015, she became the first Daemen athlete in any sport to compete in a Division II national championship event when she qualified in the sport of cross country. Donahue finished 69th out of 247 competitors in that 6,000-meter race held in Joplin, Missouri, registering a time of 21:55.6.

"It's very impressive that Mackenzie can put qualifying for cross country, indoor, and outdoor nationals on her resume," said Paul Lagno, Daemen's head coach of cross country and track and field who has presided over Donahue's accomplishments in each of the last two years. "She is remarkably consistent, and has shown incredible range with her ability to qualify at multiple race distances. She's in the best shape of her life and I'm excited to see her compete against the best that the NCAA has to offer."

A three-time Daemen College Female Athlete of the Year, Donahue's place in the annals of the college's all-time greatest athletes is further cemented with this latest national championship invitation.

The 2017 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championship meet occurs over three days next week. The 10,000-meter race is slated to go off at 8:55 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on Thursday, May 25. Live timing of the event will be available, and a live stream will also be shown on NCAA.com.

Stay tuned to daemenwildcats.com for more information in the days leading up to Donahue's national championship appearance.

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue: 5' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Senior