AUSTIN - Lamar track and field's Verity Ockenden clocked in at 4:26.79 in the 1500-meter run and finished third in her heat on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I West Preliminaries hosted in Austin by Texas at Mike Myers Stadium.

The top five runners from each of the four heats plus the four next best times advance to the quarterfinals. She will compete for a chance to jump into the top 12 and advance to the semifinals held in Eugene, Ore., at the NCAA Championships.

"She executed today's race the way she needed to and gave herself a chance to move on," said track and field coach Trey Clark. "Verity has had a great year for us and now she gets to continue that for another round for a chance to get the championships."

She finished 18th overall on the day and was ahead of Oregon's Ashley Maton (qualified), Perez Rotich (qualified) of Iowa State and Stanford's Molly McNamara in her heat. Oklahoma State's Natalja Piliusina timed in at 4:26.40 took first in the heat and Elise Cranny of Stanford took second (2:26.62).

She will race in the quarterfinals on Saturday evening at 6:30. The event will split into two heats, and the top five times from those heats plus the next two best times after advance to the NCAA Championships.

Sam Stabler will make his appearance in the 5,000-meter run on Saturday as well; he runs at 8:45.