Bloch Wraps Up Season at NCAA Championships
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Liz Bloch of the Michigan Tech women's track & field team completed an outstanding 2018 season in the 1500 Meter Run on Thursday night at the NCAA Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina. She placed 15th in the preliminaries at this year's national championship event. One of the many highlights for Bloch this season was a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship in the 1500m earlier this month.
"While this is bittersweet for us, I have to say that I am unbelievably proud of her season and how she's developed into a leader for our teams and our department," Head Coach Jake Isaacson said. "I can't think of a better representative for Michigan Tech than Lizzie, and I'm excited that we get one more year to work together.
"Being in heat one of the preliminaries is always tough because it allows the following heat to see what times they need to beat to advance. Liz had one of the fastest closing laps, but a small position error ended up being the deciding factor. Less than one second separated nine women, so we we're close and we'll look to improve upon this next spring."
Bloch claimed the GLIAC Championship in the 1500 Meter Run in Ashland by crossing the line in first place with a time of 4:36.81. She placed third in the 800 Meter Run (2:16.49) at the GLIAC Championships, garnering First and Third Team All-GLIAC Honors during the first week of May.
Bloch recorded a season best and Michigan Tech school record time of 4:27.93 in the 1500 Meter Run at the Dr. Keeler Track & Field Invitational hosted by North Central College on her way to second place in the event. Bloch broke her own record of 4:29.88, which she set earlier this season at the Hillsdale "Gina" Relays. The Tech record coming into the year was held by Deedra Irwin, who posted a time of 4:35.22 in 2015.
Bloch also hit a provisional qualifier time of 2:11.02 in the 800m at the Long Beach State Invitational on April 20th. The time was a career best and new school record for the event. Bloch was Tech's previous school record holder in the 800m with a time of 2:12.97 back in 2016 before eclipsing her own benchmark during the 2018 campaign.
Official results from the NCAA Championships can be viewed by clicking here.