North Vancouver’s Lindsey Butterworth ended her collegiate athletic career with incredible style Saturday, winning the 800-m race at the 2015 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships held in Allendale, Mich.
Butterworth’s personal best time of 2:02.88 in the final missed the 25-year-old championship meet record by just four-tenths of a second.
“I'm in shock. I had no idea I could run that fast,” Butterworth stated in a Simon Fraser University release. “I gave everything I had. I didn't know I was capable of running so fast. This time was a breakthrough for me.”
Her time was nearly two seconds faster than the 2:04.11 she ran at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 2.
In Saturday’s final Butterworth ran neck-and-neck with second-place finishers Carsyn Koch from Cedarville University before pulling away at the finish to win by 2.43 seconds.
“I ran a tactical race staying to the outside trying not to get boxed in and then with 300 metres to go along the back stretch I made my move,” said Butterworth. “I didn't take the lead until 200 metres to go and then I just ran hard to the finish and I didn't look back.
The win gave Butterworth, a Handsworth grad, her second national title of the year following a win in the 800-m race at the Div. 2 indoor national championship held in February in Birmingham, Ala.
“I couldn't be happier to finish my SFU career with a national championship,” said Butterworth. “But it is kind of sad that five years has come to an end but now it is on to the next challenge."
