By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- Hannah Swanson (So., Seattle, WA/Roosevelt HS) will be competing in the women's 1,500-meter run at the 2016 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. It will be her first trip to the NCAA Championships in track and field, although she has competed at two NCAA Championships in cross country.

Swanson will run in the preliminary heats on Thursday, May 26. Heats in the 1,500 are set to begin at 1:45 p.m. CDT/11:45 a.m. PDT. The final is scheduled for Saturday, May 28 at 1:35 p.m. CDT/11:35 a.m. PDT.

She entered the current season with a career best of 4:38.04 at the 2015 OSU High Performance Meet. She has lowered her time on four occasions this season.

First, she dropped it to 4:36.90 at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival on April 1. Then she improve to 4:35.04 on April 15 at the Oregon Relays. She achieved a time of 4:33.08 at this year's OSU High Performance Meet on April 29. Swanson lowered her time to 4:33:03 at the Portland Twilight on May 15. She is ranked 26th in NCAA Division III this season.

Along the way, Swanson took second place at the 2016 NWC Championships with a time of 4:36.11. It was the second year in a row that she placed second in the NWC. 

In addition to her success in track and field, Swanson has been a solid contributor to the Willamette women's cross country team.

As a freshman, she helped Willamette take first place in the NWC, followed by a first place team finish at the NCAA West Regional. She was 18th at the NWC meet and 35th at the Regional, as she earned All-West Region honors. The Bearcats placed 15th at the 2014 NCAA Championships.

This past fall, Swanson placed 10th in the NWC and 18th in the West Region. She was named Second Team All-NWC and All-West Region. Willamette finished second in the NWC, won its second straight West Region championship and took 10th place at the 2015 NCAA Championships.