On Friday, in Pueblo, Colorado on the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl and on the campus of Colorado State University-Pueblo, University of Minnesota Duluth senior mid distance runner Savannah Schley will line up for the biggest race of her career.

The native of Loyal, Wis. capped off a strong outdoor track and field season with the fourth fastest time in the Central Region and the 22nd fastest in the NCAA, and it happened with a second place finish at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship. Schley ran a 2:08:57 -- a personal record in the race and punched her ticket to Pueblo in the process. 

"This has certainly been just a general season of reflection for me, a lot of things coming to close and this is just one of those very pinnacle moments that feel kind of just not real at the time," said Schley from Pueblo. "It'll be fun to look back and reflect on this experience."

Schley has been clear that the success of her career has been closely tied to her coach at UMD – something she is repeatedly grateful for.

"It is really special for me because of the people I get to be here and to do it with – coach Brett Jensen has been such a blessing to me ever since I came to UMD," reflected Schley. "We kind of started together which is special. I don't think people realize, to end up with the coach that you feel like really understands you and gets you and whose training really works to align with you, and who just is a genuine great human to everyone. I feel so grateful to have that and to have coach Carly Brautigam and just have been part of the Bulldog program. I have done a lot of growing up in the program, I feel like I'm doing a lot of reflecting about that lately."

While Schley had one of the best outdoor seasons of her collegiate career, this will mark her first race at the national level – something she is well aware of.

"I think just coming to the national stage is just kind of the pinnacle of that and it's crazy to think I've run a lot of 800s in my life," said Schley. "I've been running up for a very, very long time – it's definitely my favorite distance. It feels crazy to think that that's going be my last one for quite a while, I feel so blessed and so grateful for coaches, teammates, family, everyone. "This is something that I do not take lightly, and I feel so blessed that I could have this experience but it's also just an experience. I wanna have fun and just go and do my best."

Schley will make her NCAA 800 meter debut in the opening heat Friday at 7:00 p.m. central time.