* Michaela Rose advances out of the 800m prelim at the USATF Outdoor Championships
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EUGENE -- The 2023 800 meter NCAA outdoor champion rose to the occasion at the USATF Outdoor Championships on Thursday and qualified for the semi-final round Friday afternoon.
Michaela Rose, the LSU standout, finished comfortably in third with a 2:00.79 and enters the next round as the seventh-fastest competitor.
After finishing NCAAs in mid-June, Rose went back to the drawing board, she said, to prepare herself for the Outdoor Championships by incorporating more mileage into her training to work her way back in peak shape.
Inside Hayward Field, Rose said she embraced the change of pace and her added competition against professionals.
"It's a new environment, but I feel like I'm prepared for it," Rose said. "All throughout the season you're competing with people who you know are strong but not 'pro strong' yet like Ajee Wilson and Athing Mu. So knowing that I'm going to be competing against these ladies and their times are faster on paper than mine, I'm prepared to see how finals and the next round will go."
Rose would need to finish in the top three in her semi-final heat or hold four of the next fastest times to compete in the finals on Sunday evening to earn a spot on the USA World team to compete in Budapest, Hungary.
* Michaela Rose (right) competes in the 800m at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships
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Related Links:
USATF Outdoor Championship Meet Page
