By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

CLAREMONT, CALIF. -- Senior sprinter Jaela Dinsmore (Hines, OR/Burns HS) from Willamette University finished in 5th place in the finals of the 100-meter dash with a personal record time of 11.95 seconds at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, May 26. Dinsmore achieved All-America status by placing among the top eight runners.

The NCAA Championships were hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at the Burns Track Complex.

Dinsmore, who claimed the final spot in the finals by one one-thousandth of a second during Friday's preliminary heats, kept up with many of the favorites on Saturday. She missed third place by just 0.04 seconds.

Ashlynn Chavis from Methodist College (N.C.) won the 100-meter championship by recording a time of 11.55 seconds for a 0.29 advantage over Erica Johnson from Buffalo State College (N.Y.), who took second in 11.84 seconds. Tiarra Goode of Birmingham Southern College (Ala.) was third at 11.91 seconds.

Dinsmore was tied with Brittni Wirtz from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who took fourth place, also at 11.95 seconds. When their times were expanded to three decimal places, Wirtz took fourth at 11.945 and Dinsmore placed fifth at 11.949. Bria Wilson from Methodist following closely in sixth place at 11.99 seconds. A total of nine athletes competed in the finals.

In addition to placing 5th in the 100-meter dash, Dinsmore took 11th place in the 200-meter dash with a personal record time of 24.62 seconds in the preliminary heats.

Dinsmore was one of five Willamette athletes competing at the NCAA Championships.

Also participating for Willamette were Michaela Freeby (Fr., Milwaukie, OR/Rex Putnam HS), Brandi Miller (Sr., Grants Pass, OR/North Valley HS), Theresa Edwards (Jr., Lake Tapps, WA/Bonney Lake HS) and Kit Kingstad (So., Beaverton, OR/Beaverton HS).

Freeby took 13th place in the finals of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:05.65. She established a personal record of 10:57.24 in the semifinals on Thursday. Miller finished 15th in the heptathlon with 4,391 points, missing her personal record by just 15 points.

Edwards achieved 18th place in the women's 1,500-meter run in 4:44.31. Kingstad took 16th place in the men's 1,500-meter run in 3:57.56.

Dinsmore put an exciting finish on a tremendous season, that included lowering her top time in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. She reduced her personal record at 100 meters from 12.72 seconds prior to this spring to 11.95 seconds in the national finals. She improved her top time at 200 meters by over second, from 25.88 seconds to 24.62 seconds.

At the 2012 Northwest Conference Championships, Dinsmore earned first place in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. She was a runner on Willamette's 4 x 100-meter relay and 4 x 400-meter relay teams that both finished second in the NWC. In 2011, she won the NWC championship in the 400-meter dash. She helped WU take first place in the 4 x 400-meter relay in 2009 and 2010.

She recently received the NCAA Elite 89 Award for Division III women's outdoor track and field as the athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing at this week's championships. Dinsmore, who graduated from Willamette on May 13 with a double major in Latin American Studies and Spanish, has a 3.99 cumulative GPA.